I stayed in the darkness with you
by AttackOnTetris
Summary: Bookstore AU. Ryuko la Satsuki. "She wasn't used to people expressing their desire for her so openly. Most were afraid to offend her, given her no-nonsense reputation. Having Ryuko tell her how she felt all the time was certainly refreshing."
1. Chapter 1

"How much do you think I'll get for all this shit, anyway?"

Turning and looking down at her oldest friend, Satsuki shrugged and said, "It depends what's in demand at the moment, I suppose."

Huffing and adjusting the cardboard box full of music theory textbooks on her hip, Nonon said, "I hate this town, nobody appreciates good music anymore. I'll probably get twenty bucks for all this. Who fucking knows how much I paid for these originally! Goddammit!"

Snorting, Satsuki tried to calm her down, "You never know, Nonon. These people might be more reasonable than you think. I looked them up, they're known for being fair in buy-back situations. Of course, you won't get every penny back, but you'll get more than you would at the university bookstore."

Nonon scoffed, "Well, whatever. Fuck the university bookstore, they've been fucking me over since they paired up with all the professors to make us all buy the newest editions every semester. I'm so glad I'm graduating next semester. Won't have to deal with their bullshit anymore."

Satsuki chuckled and pulled out a scrap piece of paper with some scribbles on it, "Okay, I think it's the next block. We're looking for a place called '_Matoi Bookstore'_. Sounds family owned… so uninspired." Sighing, Satsuki put the paper back into her bag.

"They could be called '_Dick's New Twist_' for all I care, as long as I get some of my money back. I saw this baton at the last educators convention, holy God, fucking hand carved with wood from this tree in Australia that smells like bubblegum or some shit, I want it so bad!"

Satsuki just rolled her eyes. "Are you referring to '_Oliver Twist'_? The author's name is Dickens, not Dick." Turning the corner, they saw a small shop smashed between two huge buildings that had a handmade sign that read '_Matoi Bookstore'_.

Grimacing, Nonon said, "Whatever. Looks like a shit hole."

"Agreed."

* * *

Opening the door, Satsuki peered in the shop. It was a small place, with books lining the walls from ceiling to the floor, and a small cash machine at the front. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Letting Nonon in behind her, Satsuki continued, "We've got some books we'd like to sell you."

Coming out from behind the small dividing wall towards the back of the shop, a girl with shoulder-length black hair came running up to them. Giving her a once over, Satsuki saw the girl had a streak of bright red hair in her bangs, making Satsuki tilt her head in interest.

"Hey, hey! Welcome! You said you had some books to sell? You've come to the right place! Are these whatcha got?" The girl gestured to the box Nonon had put on the floor next to her.

"Uh, yeah. So how's this work? You just go through them and deem the ones worthy of keeping and give me prices for them?" Nonon asked, crossing her arms.

The girl grinned, "Pretty much! I'll take these to the back and go through 'em real fast. Feel free to look around!" Looking at Satsuki, the girl said, "Uh, the classics are in that nook to the left if you were wondering."

Widening her eyes, Satsuki said, "Oh. Thank you."

Smiling wider, the girl picked up the box next to Nonon's feet and turned to go to the back. "Yeah, uh, you just look like a classics kinda girl; my name's Ryuko. If you need any help just holler for me."

Once Nonon was sure she was out of hearing range, she said, "That was fuckin' weird." Swallowing roughly, Satsuki muttered her agreement and went to the classics section, leaving Nonon to her own devices.

While browsing the titles Satsuki thought about that girl, Ryuko. From the minute and a half she had been in contact with her, Satsuki was already fascinated. Ryuko had slightly larger than normal canine teeth, and her eyes were a nice cobalt blue.

Her outfit had been interesting, denim cutoff shorts with a light purple v-neck t-shirt, aviator sunglasses resting on the top of her head and last season's cloth covered shoes on her feet.

With a light blush dusting her cheeks, Satsuki thought, _She's pretty cute… Plus she's got a good sense of personality, given that she guessed I was going for this section by just looking at me._

Picking up a book to look at the price, her thoughts were interrupted, "Hey, that's a good one," Snapping her head to the left, she saw Ryuko smiling at her, "at least, that's what I hear. I'm not a big fan of him, personally." She finished, looking at the author's name on the cover.

Looking back at the book in her hand, Satsuki said, "Oh, yeah. Same. I just heard from a friend that this one is worth checking out because of the plot." Ryuko hummed, leaning against the shelf, looking at the opposite wall of books. They stayed there in silence for a while, until Ryuko cleared her throat and said, "Oh, I forgot why I came to find you, I think your friend left, I need to give her a price for the books she brought in."

Furrowing her brows, Satsuki put the book back on the shelf and pulled out her phone, finding a text from Nonon that read '_Hey I had to pee. I couldn't find a bathroom in that place. I'm across the street at the Starbucks. Be back in like twenty minutes. There's a long ass line.' _Shutting her phone, Satsuki told Ryuko the situation.

Scratching her nape, Ryuko laughed, "There's a bathroom upstairs. I probably should've mentioned that."

Eyebrows raised, Satsuki said, "This place has an upstairs?" Ryuko nodded, "Yeah! Wanna see? There's a little nook to read as well, so you can read a few chapters before you buy and stuff." Gesturing for Satsuki to follow her, Ryuko went around the dividing wall and led Satsuki to an old wooden staircase lining the wall.

"You're not leading me to my murder, are you?" Satsuki asked dryly, slowly following Ryuko up the stairs. Walking into a room the size of a small bedroom, Ryuko laughed, "No, no. That would mean I'd have to replace the carpet, do you know how expensive that is? Holy shit." Putting a hand on her hip, she gestured to another door near the corner of the room with her thumb, "That's the bathroom."

Glancing around, there was a couch lining the wall on her left, a few chairs scattered randomly throughout the room, and a love seat on the wall to her right. Satsuki sat on the love seat, since it was the closest and looked the cleanest. "So, do you own this place or do you just work here?"

Ryuko remained standing, "Well, it was my mom's but she passed away a while back. Dad wanted to keep the place, so I offered to help out with it. Turns out I'm pretty good at it and we get a lot of customers like your friend. They see I'm fair with my pricing and they come back to buy other stuff. It's a nice little cycle." Ryuko gave Satsuki a once-over, "Are you done with school?"

Crossing her legs, Satsuki said, "No, I have a semester left." Resting her elbow on the armrest she continued, "What about you? You don't look much younger than me."

Putting her hands in her pockets, Ryuko pursed her lips in thought, "I have two semesters left." Satsuki hummed. Ryuko turned to look out the window on the opposite wall. Resting her face against her hand, Satsuki said, "Why don't you sit down? It must be tiresome to be on your feet all day."

Ryuko gave her a strange look but complied, sitting next to her on the love seat. Crossing her arms, Ryuko started, "So, uh, what's your major?"

"Business Management. Yourself?"

"Same, actually! Where do you go? I haven't seen you around here before."

The conversation went on for a good ten minutes, each girl saying where they were from and what they wanted to do when they graduated. Turns out both of them wanted to take over the family business.

By the end of it, Ryuko had turned to face Satsuki fully, a leg crossed under the other, and an arm lying across the back of the seat. Satsuki couldn't look away. Ryuko's eyes were so expressive, she couldn't stop herself from leaning in a bit, the way they lit up even more after they found something more in common. It was beautiful.

Hearing a bell ring below them, Ryuko blinked a few times, as if coming out of a spell, "Ah, that must be your friend." Getting up and leading Satsuki back downstairs; Ryuko went to the back to get the estimate.

Finding Nonon, Satsuki asked how her trip was with a knowing tilt of her lips. "Took like thirty years! There was a line for the bathroom _and_ coffee! What the fuck!" Taking a sip from her drink, Nonon cooled off a bit, "Did you find anything?"

Shrugging, Satsuki said, "No, not really."

Seeing Ryuko come around the corner, Nonon said, "Alright, what are my babies worth?"

Grinning, Ryuko gave her the price. Nonon almost dropped her cup, "Seriously? You're fucking serious? Oh my God, that—that's amazing! Yes! Yes! I'll take that to the bank, hell yeah!"

Satsuki piped up, "That's very generous of you."

Walking behind the cash machine, Ryuko shrugged, still smiling. Getting the cash and receipt, she walked back over and handed them both to Nonon, who was grinning like a mad woman.

"Be sure to come back! Tell your friends, too!" Ryuko turned to go back to her post in the back, but not before looking at Satsuki and saying, "I enjoyed talking with you. I hope to see you around more often."

"Y-Yes, I enjoyed speaking with you as well. I would like to come back soon; the atmosphere is very calming here."

"Alright, then! See you next time! Later!"

Walking down the street, Nonon turned to Satsuki with a shit-eating grin, "Wow, I can't believe you stuttered. What the fuck did you two do while I was gone?"

Satsuki put a hand to her face and sighed, "She caught me off-guard, that's all."

"Hmm, still. She's pretty hot, I guess. You like her, don't you? Don't fucking lie, Satsuki."

Satsuki shrugged, "She's cute. That doesn't mean I want to court her or anything. Besides, I'm very busy as it is, I wouldn't have time for that sort of thing."

Nonon sighed, "Whatever. Just ask her out for coffee or something one day. If it doesn't go well, then we can all move on with our lives; if it does go well, then you have a chance at being happy, like you deserve."

Satsuki didn't answer, staring straight ahead.

* * *

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Satsuki had been to that bookstore with Nonon. Every day she had thought about Ryuko. Be it for a quick minute or taking over the whole afternoon like the last two days; Satsuki was fed up.

Looking up from her computer, Satsuki put a hand to her face, sighing. _Why am I even thinking about this? Who cares? _Groaning in frustration, she looked at the time. It was a little after one o'clock. Standing and stretching until a satisfied sigh passed her lips, Satsuki got her bag and put on her shoes. She was going to put an end to this.

Almost twenty minutes later, she walked in the little shop to find a few children running around, unattended. A young boy, maybe eleven or twelve, with brown hair came around the corner and smacked right into her leg.

Rounding the same corner, Ryuko appeared, holding one of the other kids by the neck of his t-shirt, looking extremely pissed off.

"Oi. Mataro. What did your sister and I tell you this morning? Huh? Exactly. No. Running. In the damn _store_!" Dropping the boy she was holding, Ryuko stomped up to the boy next to Satsuki, presumably named Mataro.

"What! We weren't running! I was just walkin' real fast and this pretty lady came in and I was blinded by her stunning presence so I bumped into her!" Looking up, Mataro gave Satsuki his best puppy dog eyes, "Sorry about that, by the way."

Finally glancing at Satsuki, Ryuko squinted her eyes, as if trying to remember where she had seen her before. Satsuki just looked at Mataro and said, "Flattery gets you nowhere. Stop disobeying Ryuko, I'm sure she doesn't appreciate it."

Eyes lighting up in recognition, Ryuko pointed at Satsuki, "Ah! I know! You're that girl who walked in with that music major like a month ago! I never caught your name by the way."

"Satsuki."

Watching Ryuko mouth her name, seemingly committing it to memory, was strange to say the least for Satsuki. It was like she thought it was a prayer or something.

Ryuko tilted her head, suddenly interested, "That's pretty. So you're from Japan? Or at least of Japanese decent?"

Nodding, Satsuki went into small detail about her upbringing, the boy next to her slowly backing away and getting out of Ryuko's sight, taking advantage of the situation along with the other children.

"Anyway, the reason I came in here was because I wanted to ask you something."

Blinking, Ryuko shrugged and said, "Fire away."

Steeling her resolve, Satsuki bit the bullet, "I was wondering what time you get off work today, because I would like to get some coffee with you or even dinner if you'd like."

With a growing smile, Ryuko put her hands in her pockets, "Are you asking me out?"

"More or less."

Looking at the clock above the register, Ryuko yawned, and said, "Well, I've gotta get the kids back within the hour, and I guess I'll be done for the day. You wanna guard the store for me until I get back? Yeah, I'd like some coffee and dinner with you. Although, you look like you enjoy tea more than coffee, but whatever, sounds cool."

"Interesting analysis." Satsuki gripped her bag tighter. This girl was so perceptive it was almost scary. Even with those thoughts running through her mind, Satsuki knew the rush she was feeling wasn't fear, but anticipation. She hadn't felt this excited in a long time.

* * *

Ordering her tea, Satsuki sat at a table in the corner of the Starbucks, waiting for Ryuko to join her. Once she did sit down, Satsuki noticed the necklace Ryuko was wearing. It had a long chain, so the actual pendant fell close to her stomach, and the pendant itself was a tiny, red half-scissor.

Pointing it out, Satsuki said, "That's a neat necklace. Where did you get it?" Ryuko looked down and rubbed at the chain with practiced ease, "Oh, my dad gave it to me as a high school graduation gift. Not sure where he got it, though."

Nodding, Satsuki sipped at her tea. "That's nice. My mother gave me something similar. Only it's a traditional Katana."

Ryuko hummed, "Did you do Kendo in high school?"

Absently gripping her cup a little tighter, Satsuki answered, "Yes. I stopped my last year, though. Tore my ACL right before Nationals."

Playing with the straw of her iced coffee, Ryuko said, "Oh. I'm sorry. Uh, I did martial arts in high school. Still do, actually. Although, not as often as I'd like… How did you tear your ACL?"

Meeting Ryuko's eyes, Satsuki said dismissively, "My sister."

Ryuko blinked. "Your… sister?"

"Yes. She thought it would be funny if she tried to run over Nonon, the girl who sold her books to you, with my car at the time. I never ran so fast in my life. I pushed her out of the way just in time."

Ryuko looked taken aback. "Holy shit. That's fucking crazy! Did your parents do anything?"

Satsuki gave Ryuko a sad smile, "No. Mother claimed that I shouldn't have let my keys be so easily taken by my little sister. I'd do it a thousand times over, though. That pain is nothing compared to the grief of losing a friend."

Gripping her necklace, Ryuko looked out the window they were sitting next to solemnly, "Yeah. I know what you mean."

Sitting in silence for a while, finishing their drinks, Satsuki mulled over what to try and defuse the tension she had caused with. They had already talked about education, mostly. Conversations about her own family were out. Suddenly, Satsuki knew what to bring up.

"Hey, so whose kids were those earlier?"

Ryuko brightened immediately, "Oh! Well the one that ran into you, Mataro, he's Mako's little brother. She's going to med school right now, so I help her out whenever I can. Sometimes he's a bit much, but I'm basically family, so it's all good." Satsuki nodded in understanding, _they must have dated or something_, "So how long have you known Mako, then? You two must be close if you're taking care of her siblings."

Ryuko let out a bark of laughter, "Yeah, I met her when I moved here. She's… eccentric to say the least. She really brought me out of my shell in high school."

She gave Satsuki a knowing look, "If I'm being honest I never really wanted to date her, though. She's my best friend. Plus she's still with her high school sweetheart, anyway."

Satsuki messed with her cup, embarrassed. "Oh. That's nice." She looked up to see Ryuko leaning over with her chin resting in her palm, clearly staring.

She cleared her throat awkwardly, "What?"

Ryuko shrugged and said, "Nothing. You're just really nice to look at, very pretty. I think I like your eyebrows the most, though." Flushing, Satsuki couldn't look away from Ryuko's stare.

"That's very sweet of you to say."

Ryuko grinned and leaned back, still staring, "It's true. Are you finished with your tea? I know a cool place we can eat down the street." Nodding Satsuki stood and followed Ryuko out of the Starbucks.

With her hands behind her head Ryuko turned to look at Satsuki, "Do you like Italian?" She gave a noncommittal shrug, "It's fine."

Ryuko stopped walking. "What would you prefer?"

Blinking, Satsuki said, "Honestly, talking about home gave me a strange craving for curry—" Turning on her heel, Ryuko said, "Alright! I know a good little shop a few blocks from here. They're pretty authentic."

"Wait! Are you sure? We don't have to do that. I was just thinking out loud…"

Ryuko beamed, "Hey, when a pretty girl tells me she has a craving for curry, I don't screw around."

Flushing to her ears, Satsuki said, "You're very forward."

Ryuko shrugged, "I gave up on hiding my feelings a long time ago. If I want to say something, I will. I don't pull punches anymore." Putting her hands in her pockets, she started walking in the direction of the restaurant, Satsuki tailing behind her.

Dinner went by in a flash; Satsuki hadn't had that much fun just talking with someone in a long time. Their banter was playful but at the same time it gave Satsuki a feel for Ryuko's wit. It almost rivaled her own; almost being the key word.

Throughout dinner, Ryuko had played with the ends of her hair and grazed their hands a number of times. It shocked Satsuki a little, but remembering what Ryuko had said before about not hiding her feelings, it didn't bother her as much.

These things would've set her off with anyone else. She had had many first dates go wrong in her twenty-two years. Girls would try the same stupid tricks over and over, just to get her in their bed. It pissed her off to no end, but the way Ryuko was doing them didn't come off the same way.

The way Ryuko touched her, or attempted to touch her at times, was almost gentle, as if all she wanted was contact. Satsuki appreciated that more than anything. Ryuko wasn't trying to get a one-night stand; she was looking for an actual relationship.

After paying, Ryuko walked Satsuki back to the bookstore, "Well, that was the most fun I've had on a date in a while! Are you busy next week?"

Blinking, Satsuki went through her mental calendar, "I'm free next Friday night, actually."

Ryuko grinned, "It's a date!"

Both girls said their goodbyes and as Satsuki turned in the direction towards her apartment, Ryuko said, "So, uh, come by the store any time you want. It would probably make my day, honestly."

Looking back, she saw Ryuko scratching her nape, smiling at her. Satsuki said, "I'll come by as much as I can." Upon seeing Ryuko smile wider, Satsuki turned around fully and began the trek to her apartment, trying to fight her own growing smile.

* * *

Stepping into the store a few days later, Satsuki's face was met with a box an older man was carrying, successfully knocking it out of his hands onto the floor, spilling its contents.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear! Here, let me help. Are you hurt? Ryuko! I've injured a customer!" Holding her nose in an attempt to not get blood on her clothes, Satsuki got a look at the man she bumped into.

He was almost a foot shorter than her, but only because he looked like he had a back problem. He had an eye patch and white hair with a matching full beard and mustache, but the trait that Satsuki connected to Ryuko was his eye. It was the same color as Ryuko's, a little panicked at the moment, but still the same cool calming blue.

The poor man fretted over her until he saw Ryuko run out of the dividing wall towards the back of the store, the same panic in her eye as her fathers. Satsuki tried to tell him she was fine, really.

"Dad! I told you not to carry that stuff; _I'll get it_, oh my God. Holy crap, Satsuki, I'm so sorry," Ryuko reached over the cash register to the box of tissues sitting on a shelf on the wall, "Here, here. Let me help."

Grabbing Satsuki's hand that was covering her nose, Ryuko gently placed a tissue on her face in its place. Letting Satsuki apply the necessary pressure herself, Ryuko backed up and glared at her father.

"What! She just walked in! No knock or nothing!" Looking at Satsuki apologetically, Ryuko's father stepped closer, "I'm so sorry dear, is it broken? I'll, uh, cover the expense if you want—If it's broken. If it's not, then I'm not paying for anything."

"Goddammit, Dad. You know what, just—I'll deal with it, okay? Damn. Just finish the register crap and go to your poker night already, fuck." Rubbing her temple, Ryuko stared at her father wearily.

Putting his hands up in defense, Ryuko's dad went to the register, counted some things and made to leave. Before he walked out the door, he placed a hand on Satsuki's shoulder, "Listen, I'm sorry, alright? Accidents happen, yeah?"

Satsuki shook her head and said, "No, no. It's quite all right. I barged in without thinking; it's fine. Not broken. We're good." The older man smiled and nodded. Looking at Ryuko he deadpanned, "You better not be making me leave so soon cause you're gonna _do the do_ with this nice girl upstairs, Ryuko—"

"Holy. Shit." Ryuko's entire face was red as she pushed her father out the door violently screaming at him to shut the fuck up. Satsuki finally had it. Letting out a snort of laughter, she grimaced a bit from the pain, mindful of the blood still dripping from her nose.

"God. He's so embarrassing." Looking up, Satsuki saw Ryuko leaning against the door with her face in her hands. Smiling, Satsuki waved at her dismissively, "We've all got embarrassing family members. Although, I don't think any of mine would be so open to talk about sex with strangers."

Grimacing from behind the hands on her face, Ryuko apologized again. _She's cute when she's flustered, _Satsuki thought. Wiping her nose, she felt for any more damage. Finding none, she took the tissue and went to throw it in the bin by the register.

"I, uh. I'm glad you came to the store today. Even though my dad almost broke your nose. It's nice to see you." Ryuko began picking up the books that fell out of the box her father was carrying. Satsuki suddenly found an interest in her nails, humming.

She wasn't used to people expressing their desire for her so openly. Most were afraid to offend her, given her no-nonsense reputation. Having Ryuko tell her how she felt all the time was certainly refreshing. Ryuko didn't hide from her; it was a nice change, Satsuki didn't like people that beat around the bush much anyway.

Picking up the box, Ryuko turned and placed it behind the register. "So, uh. What's up?" Suddenly remembering why she came, Satsuki pulled out a list from her pocket, "Oh, I have some textbooks I need to buy. They sent out the lists early this semester for some reason."

Plucking the list from Satsuki's hand, Ryuko furrowed her brows, concentrating. Pursing her lips, Ryuko nodded, "Yep. Okay. We've got 'em all. Want me to give you an estimate?"

_No way._ _Does she have it all memorized? Every book in the store? That's insane. _Blinking, Satsuki said, "Um. Yes, if that's fine with you. I'm fine with older editions as well." Ryuko grinned and went behind the register and grabbed a calculator. After a few moments she gave Satsuki the estimate for her list.

"Yes, that's fine." Nodding, Ryuko started to pace around the store, seemingly grabbing the books that were on Satsuki's list. Once she was done she rang them all up and Satsuki paid, completing the transaction.

"That was easier than expected," Satsuki said, mostly to herself. Ryuko grinned, "Yeah, our inventory is pretty vast. Got shit from all over in here. Helps when you sell back, too."

Putting her hands in her pockets, Ryuko shuffled her feet. Satsuki could read body language well enough to answer the unspoken question, "I'm done for the day. If you want we can do something after your shift."

Looking up in surprise, Ryuko beamed at her, "Awesome! I get off in like an hour! Think you can wait for me?" Satsuki chuckled, "Yes. I'll go upstairs and get a head start on these," gesturing to the pile on the counter.

"Cool."

* * *

"So, what do you wanna do? There's not much on a Thursday afternoon." Ryuko was walking in step beside Satsuki, who shrugged. Putting her hands in her jacket pockets, Ryuko looked to the sky in thought.

Grinning, Ryuko leaned over to get Satsuki's attention, "I know of this new aquarium a few blocks down that does student discounts! I think it'd only be like five bucks for the both of us!" Satsuki quirked an eyebrow, "What are we, on a middle school field trip?"

"I'll pay for you, shit. Come on! There's like nothing else that costs any less around here, plus they let you talk in there, unlike most museum-type places." Ryuko was still grinning while Satsuki made her decision.

Sighing, Satsuki said, "Okay, but if they don't have penguins I'm leaving."

Walking into the aquarium, both girls showed their ID's, Ryuko giving Satsuki a smug look as she handed the cashier a five-dollar bill to cover the expense.

On the right was a giant glass walkway with benches in the middle to sit and watch all the fish and other water inhabitants. Grabbing a pamphlet, Satsuki scanned it looking for the direction of her penguins. Looking up at Ryuko, she saw the younger girl crouched down almost like a frog would sit, gazing at an enormous sea turtle with wonder. "Fucking huge…. Hey! Satsuki! Come look at this!"

Standing next to Ryuko, Satsuki felt a hand on her leg. Checking the source, she saw Ryuko still staring at the sea turtle, but she had let her hand lightly grip Satsuki's calf. "I see it. The penguins are near the end, of course. Best for last."

As if snapping out of a trance, Ryuko took her hand off Satsuki, and stood up. Leading the way, Ryuko put her hands in her pockets and tried to identify as many fish by name as she could. They even made a competition out of it; whoever named the most didn't have to pay for their next meal.

Satsuki could tell that Ryuko was almost hell bent on letting her win, though it looked like she was struggling with not blurting things out before Satsuki. Smirking, Satsuki let her have what she wanted and preceded to name every fish they passed without Ryuko get a word in edgewise.

Stopping at the penguins, Satsuki let a real smile shine through. They were her favorite animals, no matter what anyone said. Not only were they adept in water and land, but they were also very group oriented. They sometimes trekked in the thousands, never leaving each other behind.

"You really like penguins, don't you?" Satsuki could her the mirth in Ryuko's tone. Letting it slide, Satsuki hummed in confirmation. "They're pretty cool, I guess. Why do you like them so much?"

Tearing her eyes from the flightless birds, Satsuki turned to look at Ryuko, "I'm not sure. They just kind of speak to me, I suppose." She had never told anyone besides Nonon her love for the creatures, and even that was on accident. She could go on for hours about how they were a superior species, the only thing keeping them from conquering the sky being their wings.

Ryuko gave her a strange look before shrugging and saying, "Man, you must like them a lot if you won't tell me the real reason," she laughed, "I'm all ears anytime you wanna run your mouth about them for real. Nerd."

Satsuki smirked. It was strange to have someone who could read her so well after such a small amount of time. On the other hand, Ryuko wasn't that hard to read, either. "Some day."

Still glancing around the small room full of different species of penguins, Satsuki felt Ryuko's fingers brush her own. Not moving her hand, Satsuki continued to observe the Emperor Penguins in front of her. The backs of their hands were touching, and Ryuko, with a not-so-subtle deep breath, shyly laced a few of her fingers with Satsuki's.

Satsuki almost laughed. _So she's all bark and no bite, then._ Suddenly, Ryuko let go of her hand and grabbed it again, this time linking their fingers properly. Showing her approval, Satsuki rubbed her thumb along Ryuko's. "Are you done gawking? There's a shark tank I've been wanting to look at for the past fifteen minutes."

Taking one last look at her precious penguins, Satsuki led Ryuko out of the room with their joined hands.

* * *

"Oh, man! I'm so stuffed! I fucking love buffets!" Patting her stomach with her free hand, Ryuko turned to Satsuki, "Are we still on for next week?"

Satsuki nodded, "I do apologize for the reschedule. This semester is starting out harder than I had originally anticipated."

Stopping outside the bookstore Ryuko leaned against the brick wall, hand still linked with Satsuki's, "It's no problem. I'm only taking a few classes and they're already kicking my ass."

Satsuki hummed, finding nothing else to say. Glancing down the avenue she saw there was almost no one on the streets. What she didn't see was Ryuko nervously chewing on her lip, having an internal struggle.

Feeling the hand connected with hers pull, Satsuki looked at Ryuko. Nothing about her expression was uninviting, so she took a step forward wordlessly. Ryuko's other hand came to life and rested on Satsuki's hip, pulling her closer.

Putting her free hand on Ryuko's shoulder, Satsuki leaned in, glancing at Ryuko's lips in the process. Apparently this was all the action Ryuko required from her, because she wrapped her arm around Satsuki's waist fully, tugging her so that their faces were inches apart.

Their breath mingling, Ryuko swallowed roughly. Satsuki brushed her hand along Ryuko's neck and threaded her fingers into her hair, finally closing the space between them. Feeling Ryuko's grip on her hand and waist tighten almost immediately, Satsuki nearly grinned.

Breaking away and lingering, Satsuki kissed Ryuko's cheek before pulling away completely. Ryuko gave her a small smile, cheeks pinker than before. "So, uh, why don't we exchange numbers or something so you don't have to walk all the way over here to cancel on me next week." Chuckling, Satsuki pulled out her phone and handed it to her, Ryuko doing the same.

Stepping out of Ryuko's embrace, Satsuki gave her hand one last squeeze goodbye before she started down the street, feeling Ryuko's stare at her back until she turned the corner, completely unaware of the perky blonde pig-tailed woman lurking in the shadows.

* * *

A/N: Yooooo! So this is a little thing I've been working on the back burner for a little bit, hope you like it! I would really appreciate any feedback on this, so if you can feel free to leave your thoughts! :) Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Please note the change in rating.

* * *

Yawning, Ryuko put her hands behind her head and said, "Shit, I'm so fucking tired." Walking back to the bookstore after their dates had become standard in the last month or so. Satsuki was sure that Ryuko was killing herself doing assignments early so she would have time to spend with her; she wasn't one to judge, though, since she was doing the same thing.

Keeping silent, Satsuki went over the things she needed to do the next day before she came back to the store tomorrow night. Bringing her hand up, she threaded her fingers through Ryuko's hair, thumb rubbing just behind her ear. Ryuko sighed and slowed her pace, "Yeah, if you keep doing that I'm gonna fall asleep standing up."

Satsuki chuckled, "Just a few more feet." Stopping in front of the store, Ryuko fished out her keys and unlocked the door. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, right?" She didn't even wait for an answer, grabbing Satsuki's jaw pulling her in for a kiss.

"Of course. Remember to check your email. That professor I told you about has most likely made her decision about who she wants to work with by now." She kissed Ryuko's forehead goodbye and turned to leave. What she didn't expect was the sudden familiar shiver down her spine as the door to the shop closed.

_Nui. _Gritting her teeth, Satsuki walked in the direction of her apartment slowly, mind racing with the fact that her younger sister was somewhere around her, watching. Turning the corner, she stopped and waited.

"Aw! I was gonna surprise you!"

Mouth curling down in annoyance, Satsuki said, "Don't you have something else to do?"

Appearing in front of her, the girl with enormous blonde pigtails grinned. "Why are you always so cold to me? I just want to hang out with my awesome big sister!" Getting in Satsuki's face and giggling, Nui went to touch Satsuki's hair.

Satsuki's brows furrowed. Why was she here? Their house was in another city; the only reason she would be looking for her is if their mother commanded her to do it. Patience thinning, Satsuki slapped her hand out of the way and said, "Mother sent you, I'm assuming."

Grin widening, Nui nodded like a child, "Yep! She misses you, Satsuki! Nothing is the same without you at home. Come back already!" Knowing the implications, Satsuki's frown deepened. "I'm not done with school. That was the deal, if you remember."

Pouting, Nui clasped her hands together in front of her, "Aw, are you sure? I saw you were thinking about continuing and getting a Master's degree…" Eyes widening, Satsuki set her jaw. "I was thinking about it. I haven't made a decision, yet."

It was strange that Nui already knew about her plans after graduation, then again she shouldn't have been surprised. Nui knew many things she shouldn't. "If that's all you've come to say, I'll be taking my leave." Gripping her bag tighter on her shoulder, Satsuki didn't wait for a response and began walking again.

She needed to get Nui out of this area, away from Ryuko. Hearing Nui gasp, she gripped her bag tighter. Turning around, she saw the last person she wanted to see running full speed towards them with a piece of paper in hand.

"Satsuki!" Waving at her, Ryuko said her name again right before she crashed into her, almost knocking them both down to the ground. Holding Ryuko by the hips, Satsuki almost forgot Nui was still there, watching their interaction with too much interest. Ryuko apparently didn't notice her at all, grabbing Satsuki's face with both hands and kissing her like they were the only people on the street.

Before Satsuki could even react to the kiss, Ryuko broke away grinning, "Look," she showed Satsuki the paper in her hand, "the professor says she wants me to help her write a paper and present it at that huge national conference next quarter!" Still smiling, Ryuko kissed Satsuki again, tangling their fingers together with her free hand. "Thanks so much for telling me about how cool she was."

Satsuki was stunned. She was immensely proud of Ryuko, but she could almost recite what her sister was about to say. Gripping Ryuko's hand tighter, she said, "I told you you had nothing to worry about. You're a great student."

"Well, well, well." Giggling, Nui leaned on Satsuki's shoulder, earning a glare from the older sister, "I didn't know about this, Satsuki. Why didn't you tell me about your cute friend here?" Glancing at Ryuko, Satsuki needed to clear this up quick, before there was a misunderstanding.

"I don't have to tell you anything, Nui. Get off me." Nui gave Ryuko a smile so sweet it would've made a lesser woman's stomach turn. Frowning, Satsuki started walking the opposite direction, back to the bookstore, Ryuko in tow. Leaning up, Ryuko whispered in her ear, "Holy crap is that the crazy sister you told me about?"

Satsuki didn't have a chance to answer; Nui had already blocked their path. "Sissy, I'd appreciate it if you didn't ignore me in front of your friends." Looking at Ryuko, she said, "What's your name, cutie?"

Satsuki felt the hand she was holding tighten around hers, "Hey. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure she doesn't feel like talking to you right now. Neither do I for that matter, so if you'd be so kind as to let us be on our way, that'd be really fucking great."

Inwardly grinning, Satsuki schooled her face into the mask she was known for a few years back, "Good Night, Nui. I don't expect to see you again for a while. Understand?"

Scoffing, Nui smiled and said, "Satsuki, I'll always be here for you, don't you worry." Turning on her heel, she skipped away without another word.

Ryuko turned back to Satsuki after she was sure Nui was gone, "Dang, I didn't even see her when I ran into you. She was there the whole time?" Nodding silently, Satsuki mulled over how she needed to move forward from the whole confrontation. What was the best course of action? She knew that she needed to keep Nui away from Ryuko, but was there a way to be discrete about it?

Feeling Ryuko's forehead gently tap her temple, Satsuki snapped out of her thoughts. "Dang, she must've done a number on you. I've never seen that face on you before. Not that I've known you for forever or anything… but still." Shaking her head Satsuki gave her a small smile and said, "It's nothing. I just wasn't expecting to see her, that's all."

Searching Satsuki's eyes, Ryuko sighed and shrugged, "Okay. Well I guess just, uh. I'll text you tomorrow or something. Yeah. Okay." Letting go of Satsuki's hand Ryuko grinned goodbye and turned the corner to the bookstore, leaving Satsuki to wonder how she was going to deal with this new development.

* * *

"So. How's it going with that bookstore chick?" Nonon grinned as she shoveled spaghetti into her mouth. Satsuki put her drink down, clearing her throat, "Fine."

Nonon slammed her fork down, "Oh there's gotta be more than that. You haven't called me in, like, a fuckin' month. Seriously. How's it going? You like her? Is she as weird as I think she is?"

Sighing, Satsuki crossed her arms, "It's going fine. I do like her. She is an oddity, but very attentive," shrugging, Satsuki looked at Nonon, "I don't know what else you want me to tell you."

Nonon laughed and grinned wider, "That's the most you've ever said about someone you're dating. How long has it been, again? A couple months, right?"

Satsuki uncrossed her arms and grabbed her fork, twirling spaghetti absently, "It's been a few months." Taking a bite, Satsuki looked up at Nonon, who was nodding her head enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. Wait. If you've been together for a few months—"

"Nonon, no. Not in a restaurant—"

"How is she in bed? I bet she likes—"

Why would she answer something like that? That was personal information. Pointing her fork between Nonon's eyes like a weapon she said, "I'll answer one more question about her. One. Choose wisely."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Nonon mulling over what her one question would be and Satsuki dreading having to answer whatever she asked. Taking a drink, Nonon looked at Satsuki more serious than she had been in a while.

"How did she react to your… Anorgasmia?"

Putting a hand to her face, mostly to feel if it was as hot as she thought it was, Satsuki said, "She was fine with it. The first time she was concerned, like the others. The next few times though, she was adamant that we do whatever I was comfortable with, which was nice."

Thinking back to her past relationships, most of them tried too hard the second time, trying to prove her body wrong. It pissed her off. If she couldn't do it, she couldn't do it. Overstimulation only made it worse. Those relationships were ended accordingly.

"Although, recently, the last time we were together, she…" Satsuki knew her face was on fire. Just remembering how close she was and piecing it with the fact that every time they were together she got closer and closer was too embarrassing. "She's very thoughtful."

Nonon had her mouth hanging open in shock. "Wait. She actually got you to…?"

"N-No, but we're almost there. She's letting me go at my own pace. I appreciate it more than she'll ever know." Swallowing roughly, Satsuki twirled more spaghetti on her fork and shoved it in her mouth, mostly to keep it occupied.

Humming, Nonon finished her plate and said, "Well, I'm glad you've found someone. I can tell she makes you happy." Satsuki nodded and waved the waitress over to pay the check.

"What about the headaches? You still get those?"

Putting her wallet on the table, Satsuki hummed, thinking, "Well, yes?" she shook her head, "It's still every time I try and sleep with someone, but as of late they're getting more and more painful, like my brain is about to shatter my skull from the inside out."

Nonon's eyes were wide, "Shit. That's fucking graphic." Blinking, she continued, "Well, you've gone to the doctor, right? What did they say about it?"

Satsuki set her jaw, "I went last week. They said it was a defense mechanism. Somehow my body is reacting to something that isn't there but has been there before? Like muscle memory or something." sighing, Satsuki looked at Nonon tiredly, "I'm not sure what it means."

Rubbing her eyes, Satsuki continued, "They connected it to my Anorgasmia, saying that and my headaches were most likely caused by the same event." narrowing her eyes, looking at nothing in particular she sighed, "It's disturbing. I feel like I would remember something like that."

"Hopefully that's not what it is," Nonon fumed from across the table, "if it was, I would fucking kill whoever did it. I would make them suffer. Tear their eyes out first, so they would be blind—"

The doctors had told her much more then she had told Nonon, that it had to have been a reoccurring event for her to react the way she does. It was unsettling enough to think it had happened once. She could never tell her, not with how she was currently reacting. She had to change the subject, fast.

"Speaking of psychopaths, I saw Nui a while back." Glancing up from the bill, Satsuki reacted before Nonon could scream, slapping her hand over her mouth. Nonon's eyes were wide, and Satsuki warned her not to yell before she took her hand off her face.

"Are you fucking serious? When? What the hell is she doing here?" Grabbing Satsuki's hand across the table, Nonon leaned in closer, lowering her voice to a whisper, "Did she see you?"

Keeping her voice at the same level, Satsuki said, "Almost two months ago. We spoke. She knew about my plans after this semester and Ryuko was there at the time, so she knows about her too, which concerns me greatly."

Leaning back, she continued, "I have no idea why she was here. She just told me that Mother missed me and that I should come home already. I have no intention of doing so, by the way," she furrowed her brows, "Like hell I'm going back there."

Nonon shook her head, confused, "But I thought the deal you made was to go to school to get a degree and then take over REVOCS after your mom retired? I mean I know your home life wasn't that great, but that's mostly cause Nui's a little shithead. Getting to take over a huge corporation when you graduate is kind of a big deal."

"That was the original plan, yes. After speaking with a few representatives and Soroi, I've discovered that Mother has different plans. She's already let Nui join the company as the Grand Couturier, which wasn't in our original agreement. She's always favored Nui, though, so I'm not that surprised."

Nonon whistled, "Shit. That's why you wanna get your Masters, then. So you don't get screwed by your Mom?"

Satsuki nodded, "It's all I can do at the moment. My patience has run thin."

* * *

Waking up to Ryuko's light snoring wasn't a problem or annoyance to Satsuki, it was becoming more of a reassurance; hearing Ryuko next to her as soon as she woke was more of a comfort than an alarm.

Rubbing the heel of her free hand into her eyes, waking up a little more, she felt Ryuko stir next to her. Grip tightening on her hip, Ryuko nuzzled her face deeper into Satsuki's shoulder, nose on her collarbone. Satsuki's other arm was cradling her head; hand on her upper back drawing small lazy patterns.

Yawning, Ryuko's eyes opened blearily. Looking up and seeing Satsuki was already awake she gave her a lazy grin, "'Mornin'." Satsuki noticed her voice, slurred with sleep, was lower than usual. With a knowing smile she asked what she was so pleased about.

"Nothin' much," she leaned up to kiss Satsuki's jaw, "just happy you got to enjoy yourself more than usual." Leaning over to kiss her properly, Ryuko ran her hand up and down Satsuki's side, making her wrap her own arms around Ryuko's lower back, tugging her closer.

"Sorry about that, towards the end. My head just kept getting worse, so—" Getting cut off by Ryuko's mouth on her own, Satsuki rolled her eyes. "I've told you before, you need to tell me when it starts so we can stop and try to fix it from there." Rubbing her nose against Ryuko's, Satsuki sighed, "Yes, I know."

Pressing their foreheads together, she closed her eyes in thought. She had remembered something last night, something that was equal parts unnerving and puzzling.

She had seen a vision of someone above her, and felt an ice-cold hand sliding down her stomach. It was too bright to see the person's face, but the fear she felt was too real for it to be a dream. It had to be a memory.

She knew she was playing with fire. Diving head first into things that her brain kept on lockdown was dangerous. The day she remembered everything her life would never be the same. She could already tell from the flash of memory she saw the night before.

What bothered her most was that nobody had ever talked about it at home. She had a rising suspicion that her mother had gotten them all to keep their mouths shut or had kept the situation a secret from them. If it was the latter… Satsuki didn't want to think about that.

The question was why. Why was it a secret? Why had she blocked it out? How had she blocked it out? Was it truly a memory or some sort of weird test her mother forced her into when she was younger like she did with Nui?

More importantly, she wanted to know who had done it; when she found them, she would show them the same amount of mercy her mother had shown her growing up: None.

Feeling Ryuko lean away from her, Satsuki opened her eyes. Ryuko ran her thumb between her eyebrows, causing her eyes to slip shut again. "Try not to think about it too much. Whatever happened to you…" Ryuko didn't finish.

Satsuki had told her about the headaches after the first few times they were together. Ryuko had pieced it together quickly and was greatly concerned, but Satsuki tried reassuring her that it would be fine, and that she had prescribed meds on the way.

Cracking an eye open, Satsuki said, "We don't have to talk about it. In fact, I would prefer that." Ryuko looked apprehensive but didn't say anything, for which Satsuki was grateful.

"Okay, what do you wanna talk about?" Ryuko ran her hand through Satsuki's hair, patiently waiting for a response. Sighing, Satsuki let her back hit the mattress, tugging Ryuko along with her, "It doesn't matter. We can stay silent like we do when you're too tired to talk."

Ryuko grinned, "So you do notice!" Satsuki grunted and raised a brow, not sure what she meant. Laughing, Ryuko leaned in and kissed her cheek, letting her lips linger, "I thought I was the observant one, but I guess you're just as perceptive as me."

Satsuki narrowed her eyes, "What does that even mean? You think I wouldn't notice your quirks or something? You really are a fool sometimes."

Sighing, Ryuko explained, "What I mean is, you never voice stuff like that. Like how you know shit about me that most people don't. I know so much crap about you it's ridiculous."

Sensing the challenge, Satsuki took the bait, "Oh? Let's see just how observant you are, then," grinning, she turned to face Ryuko, "What's my favorite brand of tea?"

Ryuko laughed, "Bullshit. There's no brand, you take the fucking leaves out of mail envelops like the drug lord you are. Who sends that shit to you anyway?"

Satsuki was grinning, "An old friend. Okay, my turn. Ask me something about you."

Ryuko hummed, "Alright. What's my dream car?"

Satsuki snorted, "It's not a car. It's that god-awful motorbike you won't stop looking at on Craigslist."

"Oh yeah? What color—"

"Red."

Ryuko pouted, "Fine." Leaning over, she pressed her mouth to Satsuki's. "I like that you know that stuff." She bit her ear, playful, "It makes me feel like less of a creep."

"It's not creepy. It shows you're actually interested in who I am." Satsuki grabbed Ryuko's face with both hands, "I like that you know things about me. To be honest, I tell you more things about me than I tell my friends. I trust you. You can trust me, too."

Ryuko looked troubled, "Of course I trust you."

Satsuki gave her a look and said, "You can tell me anything, you know. Is there something that's bothering you?"

"Can we get breakfast first? I'm starving." Satsuki blinked at the sudden change in subject and said, "Sure, if you want."

Getting out of bed, Satsuki went through her closet to find some clean clothes for Ryuko. "Here, you left this here some time ago." Handing her a plain purple t-shirt, she explained, "I ended up washing it for you, so it's nice and clean."

Ryuko took it from her, smelling it. "Ah, smells good. Smells like you, a bit, actually."

Satsuki gave her a pointed look after going through her drawers to find pants for herself. Ryuko yawned and found the pants she had thrown on the floor the night before, tugging them on lazily. "Yo, zip me up."

Satsuki turned to her, fully dressed, and rolled her eyes. "Are you gonna make me do this every time?" Ryuko just grinned.

Walking over, Satsuki grabbed Ryuko's open jeans and buttoned them. Leaning down, she kissed Ryuko and zipped her fly simultaneously. Keeping their mouths connected, Ryuko sighed contently before breaking away, "Come on, there's no way you don't like that." She tangled their fingers, waving their connected arms in the air.

"You're such a child."

* * *

Getting her coffee, Ryuko took a drink and let out a pleased sigh. "When I was younger, like, super young, I had this friend of mine that I would play with in my neighborhood."

Satsuki nodded, "This is what you wanted to talk about earlier?"

Tracing the rim of her cup, Ryuko hummed in confirmation, "So, yeah, we were really close. I never knew his real name, though. When I met him the first thing he said to me was that I needed to cover my wounds. I didn't even know it, but I had a cut on my arm at the time, and he patched it up for me right there.

"I called him Senketsu, as a memento of our first meeting, and he never complained. He didn't have any parents or family that I knew of, and one time he told me he couldn't even remember his real name. I felt bad for him. We were one and the same, though. My dad was still doing his research back then, so he was never around for me.

"Senketsu and I, we were two peas, man. We never went anywhere without each other. We always stuck up for each other. I loved him," Ryuko looked down, hair hiding her eyes, both hands on her cup, squeezing.

"I still do. I lost him in a fire. He burned to ashes. His anniversary is today."

Satsuki was stunned. Eyes wide, she put both hands around Ryuko's in silent support. Sniffing, Ryuko looked up with glossy eyes, "It's still hard to talk about, as you can see." Blinking a few times, Ryuko moved her hands away from her mug and took Satsuki's hands in her own. Bringing them up to her mouth she kissed her fingers and said, "Thanks for listening."

Satsuki hummed.

"Well," Ryuko grinned at her, "What do you wanna do today?" Satsuki felt a small smile break form on her face, "It doesn't matter."

The waitress came with their respective orders and they both dug in silently. Satsuki felt that Ryuko needed the quiet to gather her thoughts. Chewing on her fork, she began to speculate about how she should move forward from this semester. She felt the need to get the Master's degree to buy herself more time before her mother confronted her.

Knowing what she did about Nui's promotion, she had a gut feeling that her promise with the CEO was going to fallout in the near future. Her original plan was to take over the company and change almost every aspect of it. She didn't like how her mother did things, even though they got the job done.

Satsuki's values were different than that of her mother's. She had hid her opinion well enough throughout her years at the estate, but Nui was a troubling factor. Since Nui knew that their mother was on her side, she would stop at nothing to make Satsuki admit her distaste for the way her mother ran things.

"Hey. What are you thinking about?" Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked at Ryuko. She hadn't noticed how appealing Ryuko looked this morning, so she decided to avoid the question with flattery, "You know, underneath all that bluster, you really are pretty."

It had worked; Ryuko flushed to her ears, "Shit. You never say stuff like that."

Satsuki shrugged, "What? Do you not want me to say what I think?"

Ryuko rolled her eyes, "Well, guess what?" giving Satsuki a shit-eating grin she said, "I think you're fucking gorgeous."

Feeling the heat rise onto her cheeks, Satsuki rested her chin in her palm, looking anywhere but Ryuko. "Again with the boldness."

Ryuko laughed, "I thought you'd be used to it by now, _Princess._"

Eyes narrowing, Satsuki grinned, "You'd better think twice before you call me that again, you little shit."

"Fine. Would it make you feel better if I called you my _Queen_?" Holding a composed face for almost two seconds, Ryuko couldn't take it anymore. Doubling over, she laughed so loud the old man across from them told her to watch it, before he called the cops on her ass.

"Shut it, old man! I'm not doing anything disruptive!" Still chuckling, Ryuko sighed.

Satsuki was grinding her teeth, trying her best to talk herself out of smashing her plate on the top of Ryuko's head for her teasing. She couldn't see a downside, looking up from her plate to Ryuko, judging the distance, she caught Ryuko's eye.

She was doing that thing where she looked at her like she was the only person in the room. Sighing, Satsuki said, "Let's hurry up and pay before they kick us out, again."

"As you wish, my _Sun and Stars_." Satsuki couldn't help the grin that split her face. "So you _are_ watching it! See? I told you it was fantastic."

Ryuko kissed her cheek as they left, "I can't imagine what all your business friends would say if they knew how much of a nerd you are."

Satsuki elbowed her side, still smiling, and tangled their fingers on the way down the street.

* * *

A/N: Yo! Lots of plot points in this one, so yeah sorry for the bog down of backstories and things. If you follow my other story I do apologize for the delay, but the next chapter will be up soon hopefully! Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any feedback :)


	3. Chapter 3

_The room was blindingly white, walls sleek as glass and the fluorescent lights above adding to the intensity, reflecting light off the walls. Blinking and putting a hand up to shade her eyes, Satsuki looked around, trying to understand how she got there._

_She last thing she remembered was talking to Ryuko on the phone. She'd have to apologize for her inattentiveness later. Feeling the beginning of a migraine, she put a hand to her temple, shutting her eyes. _

_The room seemed familiar, but at the same time she could've sworn she'd never been there in her life. It was a type of déjà vu she did not want to be having at the moment._

_Sighing and looking around, she observed that towards the middle of the room, almost two feet away from her, was a stark-clean kitchen knife. "What the hell?"_

_Hearing the wall opposite her creak, Satsuki snapped her head up, tensing instinctively. It appeared to be some kind of door. Feeling a familiar and unwelcome shiver up her spine, her eyes widened._

"_Hey Sissy! I've got something you might wanna see! She's so cute," Nui giggled, hardly able to contain her giddiness, "I can't believe you just fell asleep like that while she was here, that's not very smart, you know."_

_Nui turned back into the doorway, grabbing the person she was talking about by the lapel of their jacket. Satsuki's heart stopped. _

_Throwing Ryuko in front of her, Nui laughed outright, "You never know what might happen when you leave pretty girls alone with me!"_

_Satsuki could only stare. Ryuko had so many cuts and bruises it looked like she had just fought a couple of full-grown rhinos. Coughing up blood, Ryuko picked her head up to look at Satsuki, gasping when their eyes connected. "S-Sats—"_

_Nui stepped on her back, making her wheeze and cough again. "No, no. No talking, girlie," Nui grinned maliciously at Satsuki, "We've got an agenda."_

_Satsuki clenched her teeth. She had to stay calm. Nui was a loose cannon, one wrong step from blowing them all away. "What's going on."_

_Nui giggled again, the unease rolling around in Satsuki's stomach heavily, "Nothing, just hanging out with your little girlfriend here. Mother told me that you shouldn't spend so much time with her though, so I thought I'd help you out."_

_Satsuki opened her mouth, only to find she had no thoughts to speak. Her mind had gone blank with fear. She wanted to vomit. Swallowing, she said, "What does that mean. I don't need your help." _

_Nui started playing with the end of her pigtail, "Well, it's not hard to see. Your grades have been slipping, you know. You spend too much time with her, it's taking a toll on your future."_

_Satsuki narrowed her eyes, "How would you know about my grades? What does it matter?"_

_Nui put her other foot on Ryuko's back, pressing down. Ryuko grunted, still looking at Satsuki, eyes dazed from the pain. "They matter because Mother won't have anything less than your best. You understand that, don't you?" Nui crossed her arms, "Sissy, I thought you knew all this."_

"_I can get my grades up without this nonsense. This is like what you pulled with Nonon in high school; stop, you don't need to push this any further." _

_Nui jumped back, off of Ryuko, "I'm just teaching you a lesson you should've learned a long time ago." Satsuki's eyes widened. Going to defend Ryuko, though, she found she was chained to the wall, shackles around her wrists, stopping her from getting any closer._

_Nui kicked Ryuko's side, hard. "You need to learn, Satsuki," she kicked her again, grinning like a maniac, "distractions are what stop us from doing our best," she eyed the knife a few feet from Ryuko, "they need to be disposed of properly."_

_Satsuki struggled against the chains, metal cuffs digging into her wrists, making them bleed with her effort. "Nui, stop. There's no need for this." She was desperate. _

_Nui strolled over to the knife, in no hurry, grinning wickedly. "She's gonna be so cute when I'm done," she laughed and looked at Satsuki, "You should see your face right now, this is even better than when I tried to hit that girl with your car!"_

_Even with all her strength, Satsuki couldn't break the chains by which she was bound. She looked at Ryuko, desperately. "Ryuko—" Her eyes darted back to Nui, who was playing with the knife as if it were a toy. _

_She had never been in this situation before. Feeling total loss of control, she pushed with her feet, not caring if she ripped her arms off from the pull of the chains. She gasped and pushed even harder when she saw Nui take Ryuko by the hair, pulling her up to her feet._

"_Satsuki—" Ryuko stopped when the knife came to her throat, and Nui shushing her. "Now, now. I thought we said no talking." Pressing the blade further, she said, "Speak again and I'll paint the floor with your blood."_

_Satsuki was sure the panic was clearly written on her face, and the way Nui was smiling made her even worse. It was so sick. Tasting bile, Satsuki spoke slowly, "Ryuko, don't say anymore. Please. She's serious."_

_Eyes darting back to Nui she continued, "Look, I'll get my act together, okay? This is more than enough incentive. Tell Mother that it's handled, and let Ryuko go."_

_Nui looked up at the ceiling, humming, "Something tells me you're a liar," she positioned the knife at Ryuko's jugular, "This girl made you a liar."_

"_No, she didn't. I'm not lying, Nui, I swear. Let her go. Please." _

"_No, I don't think so." Satsuki grit her teeth, on the verge of tears. Looking at Ryuko, she knew. She couldn't stop this. Who could? The pain of the steel cuffs cutting her skin open was nothing compared to the terror she felt in that moment._

_Right before Nui slit Ryuko's throat, Satsuki saw Ryuko move her lips to say her last words. Satsuki had never felt so numb in her life._

_Her blood poured across the white tile of the floor, staining it a brilliant red._

"_Wow! So pretty!" Nui dropped Ryuko's body. Hearing it hit the floor, skull cracking against the tile and more blood spilling was too much for Satsuki. Turning away, she vomited, tears flowing down her face. _

_Nui, knife still in hand, walked over to Satsuki. "Now, it's your turn."_

_Satsuki turned to face her, teeth bared, livid. "Fuck you!" _

_The last thing she saw was the point of a blade between her eyes._

Sitting up straight, Satsuki gasped for air. What the hell was that? Ripping the covers off her bed, she sat on the edge, hands on her knees, panting. Vision blurry, she reached up to touch her face, finding tears. She needed to hear Ryuko's voice right now, to know she was okay.

Taking a shaky breath she grabbed her phone off of the nightstand and dialed Ryuko's number. She picked up on the second ring. _"Satsuki, hey, what's up?"_ Satsuki sighed with relief. Hearing her voice made her feel a little better, knowing she was alive and not bleeding out on a white washed floor.

"_Satsuki?"_ Ryuko let out a puff of laughter, _"Oh my God, are you sleep dialing me? That's fucking adorable."_ Realizing she hadn't said anything, Satsuki took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. "Ryuko."

"_What's wrong?"_ Hearing the concern in Ryuko's voice made Satsuki grip her phone tighter. Her first instinct was to tell her nothing was wrong, and that it was late and to get some rest, but she knew better. She could trust Ryuko.

"I—" Images of the dream flooded her mind; Nui's twisted grin, Ryuko on the floor, dead.

Gritting her teeth, she tried again, "I had a nightmare."

After almost ten seconds of silence, Ryuko spoke up. _"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Think you can wait for me?"_

Satsuki gripped her knee for support, "Of course, I'll wait for you. I'm sorry I woke you up, I know you have an early class tomorrow." She heard clothes rustling on the other line.

"_Nah, it's fine. I'll stay on the line, too. You don't have to say anything, though." _Satsuki felt like crying in relief. "Thank you."

After a minute or two, Ryuko spoke up again, _"Okay, I'm leaving. I'll be there soon, just hold on a bit longer."_ Truthfully, Satsuki didn't mind when Ryuko babied her like this. It was nice, compared to everyone always looking to her for support, she was glad she could lean on Ryuko sometimes.

The minutes ticked by, but hearing Ryuko's breathing on the phone made it better. Satsuki could tell she was running, the way her breaths were coming out, short and fast. Taking a deep breath through her nose, Satsuki attempted to calm down a little more. It was just a dream.

Rubbing at her wrists, Satsuki closed her eyes. She could still feel the chains on her, the shackles that prevented her from saving Ryuko. She felt the bile rise again.

"_Okay, I'm at your building." _Satsuki bounced her leg in anxiety, she needed to see her, now. She couldn't stop herself from voicing her thoughts, unfiltered, "Hurry."

Ryuko was silent on the other line until Satsuki heard a knock on her door. Opening it with the receiver still at her ear, Satsuki dropped her phone when she saw Ryuko.

"It's raining."

She was soaking wet. Satsuki hadn't been so relieved since she pushed Nonon out of the way of her own car all those years ago.

Pulling Ryuko in by her jacket, trying to ignore the fact that it was the same one she wore in the nightmare, Satsuki hugged her, burying her face in Ryuko's hair. She smelled like rain, and Satsuki couldn't care less if holding her was wetting her own clothes. Ryuko hugged her back, whispering assurances in her ear and kissing her hair.

Leaning back, Satsuki pulled Ryuko's mouth to hers, cupping her face. Feeling Ryuko so close to her made Satsuki want to cry in relief. The dream had been so vivid, and Nui was so realistic; it was truly terrifying.

Rubbing noses with her, Satsuki opened her eyes, seeing Ryuko try to mask her horribly concealed worry. Resting her forehead on Satsuki's, Ryuko asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Rubbing her thumb across Ryuko's cheek, Satsuki closed her eyes, trying to gather her thoughts. "You don't have to, I just think it might make you feel better." Satsuki kissed her appreciatively, "No, I do want to talk about it, just give me a few moments."

After a minute or two, Satsuki spoke, "You died. In my dream." Opening her eyes, she saw Ryuko furrow her brows for a fraction of a second; eyes blazing with something Satsuki had only seen a handful of times.

One hand coming up and tucking some hair behind Satsuki's ear, Ryuko leaned in and gave her the gentlest kiss she had ever received. It was similar to their usual kisses, but this had the tone of something much deeper attached to it. It took Satsuki's breath away.

"I'll be the little spoon tonight, then."

Satsuki laughed, "Good."

After a few more kisses, she drew back, tugging at Ryuko's jacket. At the questioning look from her, Satsuki clarified, "You're soaked."

Ryuko's cheeks pinked and she snorted, eyeing Satsuki from waist down, "Well, I mean. You are wearing those volleyball shorts. So yeah, sure." She grinned at her own stupid joke, making Satsuki do the same, but not after shoving her shoulder hard enough to take a few steps back, "You know what I mean, you absolute child."

Ryuko rolled her eyes and took off her jacket, "Hey, do you still have some of my clothes from last time?"

Satsuki already beat her to it, handing her a t-shirt and shorts to change into. Ryuko had the nerve to look disappointed. "What's wrong with these?" Satsuki couldn't help it. She felt terrible for waking her up in the middle of the night to come to her apartment to cuddle her like some child.

Ryuko shrugged, taking the clothes, "Nothin'. Just sometimes I wanna wear your shit, you know? I was talking about stuff for the day tomorrow. But it's fine whatever—"

"No, no. I'll get you something, hold on." Satsuki went back to her dresser and picked out a shirt had had been sleeping in a few days before, handing it to Ryuko, "Here. It's kinda loose, so it's comfy." Ryuko grinned and ripped off the wet shirt she was wearing in exchange for the dry shirt, taking off her bra as well.

Satsuki pinked at that. She still wasn't used to how comfortable Ryuko was around her sometimes, not that she minded. Taking her pants off, Ryuko looked up at Satsuki, who was trying her best not to stare, "Do you have any of my underwear by chance?"

Satsuki went to her dresser again, fishing out some old boy shorts Ryuko had worn some time ago, throwing them at her. "Sweet!" Taking out an old sweatshirt, Satsuki switched shirts as well.

Once Ryuko was changed and ready for bed, Satsuki lied down facing her, holding her like a comfort object.

"You're shaking."

Satsuki blinked, "Oh. Sorry."

"Moron, don't apologize for it. Look, here—" Ryuko rolled on top of her, stilling her movements. Ryuko's weight on top of her calmed her almost immediately. The adrenaline seemed to melt away as her body relaxed itself.

"Better?"

Satsuki nodded. Ryuko started to rub above her eyebrow, relaxing her even more; whispering things in her ear that would've made her face turn red if she wasn't so tired. Lowering her hand from the small of Ryuko's back, Satsuki pushed her fingers underneath Ryuko's—or _her_ shirt, lightly scratching with her nails. "You're freezing."

Moving her other hand underneath the cloth as well, Satsuki rubbed Ryuko's back to try and warm her up. Their faces were so close she could see the moment Ryuko's pupils dilated, the blue of her iris turning into a thin ring. Ryuko dipped her head to place lazy kisses on Satsuki's throat, moaning when she scratched an otherwise hard to reach spot on her back.

Now she felt even worse. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to excite you." Ryuko laughed. "Nah, it's fine," she kissed her languidly, "I've got a test tomorrow anyway, if I skipped I would fail the class." Before Satsuki could apologize again, Ryuko shushed her, "Shut it, I came here cause I wanted, you didn't make me. Got it? This was my decision."

Satsuki grunted, but kept her hands where they were. Ryuko put her face on the pillow next to Satsuki's head, closing her eyes and falling asleep almost immediately. Satsuki held her, nightmare mostly forgotten by then, and felt her eyes slip shut, falling into a dreamless sleep.

She only woke up a few times; once when Ryuko rolled off of her at some point in the night, and another time hearing a bunch of pots and pans clattering to the floor in her kitchen, followed by a singular "Bitch!"

She felt Ryuko's weight above her some time later, whispering that she'll be back after her classes and something about tea. Satsuki cracked an eye open to look at her, relishing at how pretty she looked that morning. She must've voiced her opinion, the way Ryuko's eyes glittered with mirth.

"You're pretty, too, Satsuki."

She rolled on her stomach, still staring. Ryuko put a hand through Satsuki's bangs, combing them back, leaning down and kissing her forehead. "I'll see you when I get back, okay? Think you can wait for me?"

Satsuki mumbled her affirmation, picking her head up to kiss Ryuko properly. "Bye. Good luck on your test."

She fell asleep to the sound of her apartment door slamming and Ryuko shouting her damnation to God and all that was holy.

* * *

"So wait. You called her at, like, three in the morning, telling her you had a bad dream, and she fucking ran to your apartment that's like thirty minutes away in the damn rain and you guys cuddled?"

Satsuki nodded, embarrassed.

"Then, you find out she had a test the next day that's worth like half her grade, and she made you tea before she left, like, three hours later?"

Another nod.

"That's, like, shit you see in movies! Why the hell haven't I met her?"

Satsuki rolled her eyes; thankful the conversation was taking a turn, a not so pleasant one, but a turn nonetheless.

"Calm down, Nonon. You're going to meet her in a few minutes, she's meeting us here for lunch." Nonon perked up, "Holy shit, okay, cool."

They sat in silence for a few moments, glancing at the diner menus.

Hearing Ryuko's stomps coming up behind the booth, Satsuki fought back a smile.

"He fucking _dies_? What the fuck!" Not expecting that type of greeting, Satsuki turned her head just before it was put in a headlock by her girlfriend. "Satsuki, I thought you said I would like this show. Right now I kinda fucking hate it."

Ryuko pressed her lips to the top of Satsuki's head in some kind of apology, "But it's fucking good."

Nonon chimed in, reminding them that she existed, "The books are better."

Ryuko immediately untangled herself from Satsuki, sliding into the seat next to her, "Oh, shit! Hey, you're that chick with the music books! I'm Ryuko. You know which show I'm talking about?"

Nonon nodded, "Yeah, yeah; I know who you are. You're talking about _Game of Thrones_. The books are better. Right, Satsuki?"

Satsuki nodded, fighting the grin at the fact that Ryuko was watching the show at all. "Yes, the show kind of diverges from the books in certain places, but it's nothing too concerning. The show is still good."

Ryuko wrapped an arm around Satsuki's shoulder, "Hell yeah, it is! I didn't see the dragons coming, at all." Satsuki's nose wrinkled, "You smell."

Ryuko feigned being offended, "I just came from the gym, so."

"That's not an excuse for smelling like crap."

Ryuko grinned at Nonon, "For your information, I took a shower after my workout, she just doesn't like my deodorant."

Nonon blinked, brows furrowing, staring at Satsuki, "That's how you fucking tell her?"

Satsuki shrugged, "She knows what I mean."

Nonon glanced between the two of them, incredulous. "Wow. Uh. Okay?"

Ryuko got into Satsuki's personal space to look at the menu, kissing her cheek in proper greeting, "So, what's good here?"

After ordering, the three women made small talk. Nonon asked Ryuko about her degree and her future plans, letting Ryuko ask the same. A few moments passed and they started talking about normal things, like their favorite TV shows, movies. Satsuki sat in the window seat, leaning back, trying not to grin at how well they were getting along.

"No fucking way! So, like, it's not reality?" Ryuko was leaning forward in anticipation.

"It's his dream." Nonon grinned, sipping her coffee.

Ryuko leaned back, mind blown. She looked at Satsuki, "Can you believe this? My head just fucking exploded." Satsuki gave her a small smile, "I've been hearing Nonon's theories for years; she's very thorough. She's predicted almost every finale I've seen with her."

Ryuko gaped, "Dude, no way, that's awesome!" She leaned in, suddenly serious, "So, who do you think is gonna win the Iron Throne?"

Nonon burst out laughing, "You sweet summer child," Satsuki snorted at that, "You haven't even finished the first season, I'm not telling you shit."

Ryuko looked at Satsuki, helpless. "I finished it last night! Come on, help me out, here!" Satsuki took Ryuko's cheek with her thumb and forefinger, pinching and shaking it. "Nope. Not saying anything."

Their waitress came with the food, setting it in front of them and leaving without a word. Nonon grunted, "God, I hate when they do that." Satsuki sent her a questioning look when she started to move out of the booth. "Chill, I'm not gonna complain or anything. Gotta pee."

At Nonon's absence, Ryuko turned to Satsuki, "Ah, you didn't tell me she was that cool. I thought she was gonna be an asshole. I mean, the time I met her she was expecting me to screw her over, so I'm sure that had a lot to do with her attitude."

Satsuki leaned back playing with the denim of Ryuko's shorts, "She's a little rough around the edges, like you, but once you know her quirks, she's fine."

Ryuko hummed, leaning in for a kiss. Satsuki complied, hand moving to Ryuko's thigh, rubbing her thumb across the skin. Ryuko pulled back slightly, eyes lidded, looking at Satsuki, "Do you still have to go to that conference next week?"

"Yes."

Ryuko bumped their foreheads, hand finding Satsuki's on her leg, tangling their fingers lazily, "But if it's only two days why do you have to be gone all week?"

Satsuki chuckled, "We have to do team building activities for everyone going. We're splitting into groups and everything."

Ryuko groaned, "That's dumb."

Satsuki grinned, "I didn't know you were so clingy."

Ryuko scoffed, "Not clingy." Sobering up, she said, "I'm just worried about you, that's all. You haven't been getting any sleep since that night last week." Satsuki frowned, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it." Ryuko gave her a skeptical look, but didn't say anything, leaning back.

Satsuki sighed, "Would you like to come over tonight? We can start the second season if you want." Ryuko grinned, "Only if you promise to make that awesome curry again. That was the bomb!" Satsuki snorted, seeing Nonon walk back up to the booth.

They mostly ate in silence, Ryuko grabbing at both of their plates, making a disgruntled noise when Nonon wouldn't let her touch her food. "Sharing is caring, you know."

Nonon snorted, "Yeah, no. Try and touch my food again and I'll rip your nails off one by one." Taking another bite, Nonon stared at Ryuko, daring her to come closer. Swallowing, she tried to make conversation, "So, Satsuki, have you seen Nui lately? Hopefully she got her ass out of town after last time."

Satsuki stilled, grip on her fork tightening and not going unnoticed by Ryuko. "No, I haven't seen her." She shut her eyes momentarily, the dream coming back to her in short waves.

"Satsuki?" She looked at Ryuko, whose brows were furrowed in concern, and back at Nonon, who wore the same expression.

Feeling Ryuko's hand on her face, gentle, Satsuki refused to meet her eyes. "She killed me, didn't she?" Satsuki frowned. She heard Nonon's almost silent 'what the fuck' and grit her teeth.

Ryuko pulled her head to her chest, voice lowering to a whisper only they could hear. "If you think that's stupid or something, it's not. Your fears aren't stupid. I'm sorry you thought you couldn't tell me."

Satsuki grunted, a signal for Ryuko to let her up. Nonon just looked confused. "It's nothing to worry about, really." Nonon wasn't having it, "What the hell is going on? Someone killed Ryuko?" eyes widening in realization, Nonon fell silent.

"It was just a dream. Nothing more." They didn't touch the subject again, finishing their meals in strained silence.

* * *

Stepping out of her bathroom a few hours later, Satsuki stretched, seeing Ryuko cross-legged on her bed eyes glued to her TV. She smirked, "You know, if you watch too much of that it's going to melt your brain."

Ryuko didn't flinch, "It's not melting my brain; it's _blowing my mind_."

Satsuki let out a puff of laughter, getting on the bed and hugging Ryuko from behind, settling her between her outstretched legs, leaning back on the headboard. "What just happened?"

Ryuko leaned back into her, face turning but eyes still on the screen, "They just finished a battle." Satsuki hummed, placing kisses to Ryuko's neck. Ryuko grinned and looked at her, "I'm the clingy one?" She bit down in retaliation, hard enough to make Ryuko groan. "Okay, okay. Stop distracting me. Gotta watch."

They watched the rest of the episode in silence, and when it finished Ryuko yawned and stretched. She untangled herself from Satsuki, leaning forward to lie on her stomach. "Gimme a massage." Satsuki rolled her eyes, unseen by Ryuko. "Get your own massage."

Ryuko pouted, sitting up and turning around so she was facing Satsuki. "Please?" Satsuki's grin faltered. She always underestimated Ryuko's puppy dog eyes. Ryuko crawled over to her, pushing her so she was lying down and lied next to her, arms wrapping around her waist. "Fine. Don't give me anything," she turned her head towards the TV again, "just let me watch the next episode and cuddle you."

Satsuki grinned, "Who's clingy?"

"Shut the fuck up."

Feeling her eye lids getting heavy, Satsuki buried her face in Ryuko's neck, drifting in and out of sleep until Ryuko said, "Hey, want me to turn it off?" Satsuki grunted, yawning and turning to lie on her back.

"I'd only get a few hours in, anyway. You can keep watching, I know how you like to binge."

Met with silence, Satsuki looked at Ryuko, who looked like she wanted to say something, but was stopping herself. "What? You don't have to filter yourself around me, say what you want to say."

Ryuko sighed and met Satsuki's eyes; "I want you to tell me about your dream." Satsuki looked away immediately. "No, come on. I really think it will help! You're not sleeping over this, and that really bothers me."

In all honesty she didn't want to tell Ryuko because she thought it was a huge exaggeration on her part. She shouldn't have freaked out like that, but she couldn't help it. Ryuko didn't know Nui like she did; she didn't know what hell she could bring.

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine."

"Bullshit."

Satsuki narrowed her eyes, "You can leave, if you'd like." Ryuko sat up, Satsuki doing the same, "Listen, I'm only asking because I can see what it's doing to you. You don't sleep, you barely eat; all you do is fucking study. I know you don't need to work that hard to do well, so the only explanation left is that the nightmare you had is haunting you and you're trying to distract yourself."

Satsuki set her teeth, glaring daggers at Ryuko. "Are you really going to fight with me about this?"

Ryuko crossed her arms, "If I have to, yeah."

"Then leave."

Ryuko didn't move. Satsuki could feel her heart beating too fast, "I'm only going to tell you once more. Leave. Before I force you out."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Letting out a noise that sounded like an angry dog, Satsuki gave up. "Look. You won't understand, you'll never understand—" She felt Ryuko touch her knee, "But I can still listen. You keep it all in, it's just going to eat you up."

Satsuki felt helpless, as if she was drowning and the waves kept crashing on her with more force each time. "You can trust me." Sighing, Satsuki let the waves take her, relaying her dream in every detail.

Ryuko didn't talk for almost two minutes afterwards, the silence deafening. "No wonder you can't sleep. Your sister is fucking creepy." Satsuki looked at anything but Ryuko.

"You should tell Nonon about this."

Satsuki snapped her head to face her, "What? Why?"

"What if you have been in that room before? You felt like you had, but you don't know for sure. The only person you've known the whole time besides your family is her, maybe you've said something about it and she remembers." Satsuki stared.

"What?"

"It's a good idea, I just. I don't want to burden her. I could barely tell you." Hearing Ryuko's phone buzz on the bedside table, Satsuki felt like she could finally breathe again. Seeing Ryuko glance at the message and furrow her brow, Satsuki leaned back on the headboard, bringing her knees up and resting her chin on them.

Still looking at her phone, Ryuko moved to show Satsuki. "Is… is that you?" Looking at the photo, Satsuki stilled. It was her, but from her senior year of high school. It was with the student council on the last day of classes. She almost didn't recognize herself.

"Damn, you look like someone took a piss in your tea!" Ryuko grinned at her, and Satsuki couldn't help but grin as well. She was frowning in the picture, everyone else doing the same. "Wait. Why did Mako send me this?" Ryuko squinted her eyes at her phone, trying to see what she was supposed to be looking for.

Her eyes widened, "Holy shit! Is that Ira? You know Ira?" Satsuki hummed, "He was in the council, so yes," confused as to why her relationship with Ira Gamagori was important to Ryuko.

"That's Mako's boyfriend! Wait, so you knew him in high school? Was he such a meat head back then, too?" Satsuki chuckled, "Well, he was very serious back then. I think we all were to some extent."

"Nonon looks the fucking same," Pursing her lips like she was deciding something, Ryuko nodded to herself, "Yeah, I like you better now. Not as frowny."

Satsuki scoffed, "I still frown."

"Yeah, but not like that. That one makes it look like that's how your face is set. Not like now, you smile more." After a few moments of silence, Ryuko spoke again, "Do you feel any better?"

Thinking about it, she felt a little lighter than she did that morning, Nui's sadistic grin in the back of her mind instead of the forefront. "A bit, yes."

Ryuko smiled at her and got her to lie down again, putting her head to her chest, cuddling her. Satsuki didn't mind; she had done it to Ryuko enough times anyway. Yawning, Ryuko patted the top of Satsuki's head and said, "Okay. You wake me up if you have a bad one, alright? I'm right here."

Satsuki was too comfortable to answer, eyes slipping shut, falling asleep to the calm beating of Ryuko's heart.


	4. Chapter 4

Turning to look at the clock on her bedside table, Satsuki sighed. Getting out of bed, she padded silently across her apartment, hearing another knock at her door on the way. Opening the door she saw Ryuko, phone in hand, leaning her head on the doorframe mumbling incoherently, typing away.

"Ryuko?"

She got a grunt in response.

Chuckling to herself, Satsuki took Ryuko gently by the back of her neck and grabbed her free hand, leading her inside. Ryuko looked up at her with glazed eyes, words slurred together, "Hey, wha're you doin' at my place?" She closed her eyes, as if trying to remember something, "Didn' say you're comin' over… Wouldn've drank s'much…" groaning, she slumped against Satsuki.

"This is my apartment," Satsuki rubbed her thumb behind Ryuko's ear in some sort of affection, "You knocked."

Ryuko furrowed her brow and shrugged, "Eh, your place… my place… same shit." Satsuki let out a puff of laughter, "There's a twenty minute difference," setting her down on the bed, Satsuki let Ryuko shrug off her jacket, "in a different direction. I take it you went to that party?"

Ryuko groaned, taking off her shirt and attempting to take off her pants, "Yeah… was fuckin' killer. Should'a gone. They had Patron." Satsuki let her struggle with her pants for a few more moments, smiling when she gave up and flopped back on the mattress.

Sighing, Satsuki helped her out of her pants, getting grabbed in the process and being pulled up to Ryuko's face. "You smell like tequila." Ryuko grinned and brought their mouths together. Pulling away after a few moments, Satsuki mumbled against Ryuko's lips, "You taste like tequila, too."

Receiving no banter, Satsuki pulled back further, looking at Ryuko's face, making sure she was even awake. The day prior, Ryuko had talked about her week being one of the worst in a long time. There was a chance that the store might go under, and adding onto that, Ryuko had been needed nonstop at the office of her professor as they worked on the paper she would be presenting at the end of the semester.

Ryuko grunted in retaliation, pulling at her face weakly, "No… come back." Satsuki grinned and complied, pressing closer to her. Running her hands under Satsuki's sweatshirt, Ryuko rubbed her upper back, breaking the kiss to say, "Oh… you were sleepin'?"

"You don't know what time it is, do you?"

Ryuko didn't stop rubbing her back, "Nah… m'sure it's late, though."

Satsuki kissed her again, this time less forceful, "It's almost five in the morning."

Ryuko wrapped her arms around Satsuki's upper back, giving her a sorry excuse for a hug, "Oh, sorry I woke you up," she rubbed their noses together, eyes lidded, "Must've been a really good party, then."

The fact that Ryuko had thought of her apartment as her own and came there after getting piss drunk at some party made a fond smile tug at her lips. It was almost like she was Ryuko's only thought sometimes.

Ryuko moved up to rest her head on the pillows, taking her hands off Satsuki to take off her bra, sighing contently, and throwing it to the floor. She yawned, moving under the covers. Satsuki moved with her, resting her hand on Ryuko's stomach, scratching lightly.

"There were a lot of hot chicks there," Ryuko turned to face her, eyes still glazed, finding Satsuki's hand on her hip and linking their fingers.

Satsuki's stare didn't waver, "Oh?"

"Yeah," Ryuko frowned, "…kept tryin' to make out with me," she scooted closer to Satsuki, "told 'em to back the fuck up, almost hit this one chick, it was crazy."

"Such chivalry."

Ryuko had a habit of saying whatever came to her mind when she was drunk. Most of the time they came out in short unfinished thoughts, but it was easy enough to piece together what she was trying to get across.

Ryuko grinned, bumping their foreheads together, "The whole time… I was comparin' them to you… like, hotness factor… all that crap…" she mumbled between kisses, "You always won… you're so much better."

Satsuki wanted to take it with a grain of salt, but it was fruitless. Ryuko had unknowingly spoiled her, practically showering her with affection almost every day, physical and verbal.

Satsuki hummed, "That's good for me, then."

Ryuko went silent, turning to face the ceiling, now playing with Satsuki's hand with both of hers. "Startin' to think you'll always win." Satsuki swallowed roughly, staying mute.

They laid there for a while, both content with silence. Ryuko brought Satsuki's hand up to her face, biting the skin between her forefinger and thumb lightly. "What are you doing?"

Ryuko looked at her, lips moving to her palm. "Nothin'."

Satsuki rolled her eyes and moved her hand from Ryuko's mouth, "No, not nothing."

Ryuko looked at her, suddenly serious. Her eyes were scorching, almost blazing with uncontained affection. Satsuki could stare at her forever. Ryuko threaded her fingers in Satsuki's hair, pulling her closer, breaths becoming erratic.

Closing the distance between them, Satsuki cupped Ryuko's face, fingers rubbing gently behind her jaw. Slipping her tongue in Ryuko's mouth, she traced along her teeth the way she knew Ryuko liked, earning a low whine.

Pulling away, she placed small kisses along Ryuko's jawline leading up to her ear. Continuing her ministrations, she moved above Ryuko, fingers dancing on her smooth skin.

Sucking at a sensitive spot on Ryuko's neck, Satsuki waited for the inevitable groan she would receive. It was always so raw and husky, the sound going straight to her groin like a pulse.

The sound never came. Instead, Satsuki's ears were met with a loud, very unattractive snore. Looking up, she saw Ryuko asleep, one hand stretched out beside her, another still in her hair. Satsuki stared, dumbfounded. She put a hand to her face, laughing lightly at the turn of events.

Feeling exhaustion settling in her bones, her head hit the pillow next to Ryuko. She kissed her cheek and whispered goodnight in her ear, letting the fatigue take over and falling into a dreamless sleep.

.

It was always difficult to detangle from Ryuko in the mornings; she had a routine of almost crawling over Satsuki in her sleep, hugging onto her like a koala. The heat they shared wasn't a problem, it was warm and she enjoyed Ryuko's constant contact.

Nevertheless, she found it a challenge to try and get out of bed without making them both topple over to the floor. Forcing Ryuko off, Satsuki sat at the edge of the bed, wiping her hands on her thighs. She had class in almost an hour.

Sighing, she got up and busied herself with making her morning tea—some coffee for Ryuko, and getting dressed.

A while later, she walked back to the bed, letting Ryuko know where she was going and telling her to not vomit in her bed, please. Ryuko grunted and groaned like a child, pulling the covers above her head, telling her to stop screaming, god dammit.

Satsuki sighed, "Ryuko, come on."

Ryuko pulled the covers down and sat up, bringing a hand to her head, "Ugh, okay, okay," she looked around the bed, "Hey, where's that sweater you were wearing last night?"

Satsuki gave her a questioning look, but grabbed said sweater off the edge of the bed where she had left it and handed it to Ryuko. "It's fucking cold in here." The sleeves were obviously too long on her arms, covering her hands and then some. Satsuki felt a smile form.

Ryuko smacked her lips, frowning, "All I taste is tequila."

"That's what you get for drinking yourself stupid."

Ryuko glared at her, "Well, it's not my fault I wanna have fun sometimes."

Satsuki shrugged, "Whatever. I'm just glad you came here, otherwise you probably would've choked on your own vomit while sleeping at your place."

"Oh, bullshit. And that's heroine, by the way, that doesn't happen when you're drunk. You're so dramatic—" Grinning, Satsuki cut her off with a kiss, effectively silencing her.

Pulling away Satsuki rubbed their noses, "Look, I've got to go now. I'll be back in a few hours. We'll get something to eat when I return."

"You know, you should really try to talk to Nonon," Satsuki gave her a pointed look, "Yeah, yeah. I know, but I mean. It wouldn't hurt to try. She only wants to help you; you wouldn't be burdening her with your problems… The way I see it, she's more worried that you're not telling her anything."

Satsuki sighed, "I'll think about it."

Kissing her once more, Satsuki stood up to her full height and left, locking the door on the way out.

* * *

"Hello?"

Walking between classes, Satsuki had been surprised to receive a call from her mother of all people.

"_Satsuki, darling, I've been hearing a lot of things about you lately."_

Gripping the phone, Satsuki frowned, "I'm not sure what you mean, Mother."

"_Oh, come now, Satsuki,"_ her mother paused, apparently waiting for an answer. Satsuki stayed silent, her mother sighing on the other line, _"I heard you have a significant other of sorts. This is exciting news, especially since you've ignored all of those emails I sent about nice young men from my offices."_

Satsuki rolled her eyes so hard she could practically see the back of her eye sockets, "Mother, is this all you called for?" Her mother gasped, _"Now, who taught you that disrespecting tone? Your little friend—?"_ Satsuki stopped listening, making a disgruntled noise and standing outside of her next class. She supposed Ryuko had rubbed off on her more than she thought.

"—_Anyway, I called to tell you that I've had second thoughts about our original agreement."_ Satsuki's ear twitched at that, _"Nui says you've gotten more and more distracted with your friend or whatever you'd like to call her. She also says that you're thinking about continuing your higher education, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's just I don't have time to wait for you to finish. Do you see where this is going, dear?"_

Gritting her teeth, Satsuki tried to contain herself. This was exactly what she was afraid would happen. _To hell with this, _she thought.

"I understand, Mother. I'm sure Nui will make a great addition to the company," Before her mother could cut her off, she continued, "Furthermore, I think I will continue my higher education, so you don't need to worry about waiting for me anymore. I'll stay out of your hair. I'll see you on holiday. Goodbye."

Waiting for her reply, Satsuki gripped the strap of her bag, a scowl on her face.

"_Yes, yes. Well, I suppose you're free to do what you please. Don't get too distracted, dear. Love can be dangerous once you've been blinded by it."_

Sighing, Satsuki hung up. Collecting her thoughts, she put her phone in her pocket and entered her class. Seeing her professor write out a quiz on the board, she mused that she'd rather be blind than stupid.

Almost half way through the class, she got a text from Nonon: _Hey, we haven't talked in a while. What are you doing for lunch?_ Narrowing her eyes, Satsuki typed back, _I apologize. I've been very busy lately. Lunch? I promised Ryuko I would get something with her after class. You're welcome to come along._

After receiving conformation from Nonon, Satsuki sent Ryuko a text, _Hey wake up. We're eating lunch with Nonon when I get back. Take a shower, please. _

Now officially not paying attention, Satsuki mulled over how she was going to bring up her dreams to Nonon. Ryuko was probably right, a new pair of eyes to the situation couldn't hurt, but she was still apprehensive. Burdening her oldest friend with her strange problems would just make her worry more.

Sighing, Satsuki checked her phone. Ryuko had messaged her back, _Oi I already did for ur information ms I wear pantsuits to class~ Good I'm in the mood for a burger._

With a small smile, Satsuki typed back, _Pantsuits are professional, but what would you know about that Ms. 'I-wear-the-same-outfit-three-times-a-week'? Just be ready when I get there. _

The rest of the lecture went on without a hitch, Ryuko sending her stupid pictures from the Internet periodically, most of which weren't as funny as Ryuko probably thought. After adding some new assignments to her calendar as the class ended, Satsuki made her way back to her apartment.

* * *

Walking into the diner with Ryuko, Satsuki scanned around the small establishment for Nonon. Finding her in the back corner, Satsuki grabbed Ryuko by the bottom of her jacket and walked them over to the booth.

Once situated, Satsuki leaned back in her seat, arms and legs crossed comfortably.

Nonon yawned from across the table, "Ugh, how often do you guys come to this shithole?"

"Um. Not a shithole," Ryuko leaned forward, lifting her hand and pointing at Nonon, "You just don't know good food."

Nonon shot a deadpan look at Satsuki, "This place sucks, why do you come here?"

Satsuki thought about it, "Probably because Ryuko likes it so much," she ignored the incredulous gasp beside her, "It's close to my apartment, too."

"What the hell! I thought you liked this place! That's why I suggest it all the time!"

Satsuki leaned away from Ryuko, bubble invaded by the intensity of her screaming, "Well, it's not terrible, but it could stand to be better." Sighing, she patted Ryuko's head to reassure her it wasn't all in vain.

"Just a get a burger, it's the only thing that's good for the price." Satsuki smiled when she heard Ryuko grumble something about being lead on and the word bullshit repeatedly.

After receiving their food and making idle small talk, Satsuki decided it was time. Ryuko apparently thought the same thing, her hand resting on Satsuki's knee in silent support when she was done with her burger and fries.

Satsuki could see Nonon physically stop herself from asking the entire time they were eating, making her that much more hesitant to bring it up.

"So, I have dreams about Nui murdering Ryuko." Nonon's eyebrows shot up to her hairline, "Damn, okay, let's just get to it, then." Satsuki shrugged, being nonchalant was easier than showing her apprehension.

"They're becoming a nuisance," Cutting off and looking up in thought, Satsuki sighed, "I did not think that sentence through."

She looked back at Nonon, continuing, "Ryuko believes it would be a good idea if I talked to you about them. More specifically, if you remember anything from when we were kids that would help me understand them."

Nonon pursed her lips, "Well, I'd been thinking about it since the last time we were here," she looked sheepish, "I put two and two together. Ryuko mentioned a white room," she cut off at Satsuki's glare at Ryuko. "What the hell! You told her anyway?"

Ryuko put her hands up in defense, "No! Just about the room! That's it! I thought she would know something right off the bat, but she didn't. I'm sorry."

Rubbing her temple, Satsuki breathed through her nose, all of her concentration on stopping herself from punching Ryuko in the face. She knew she meant well, but she could've asked first!

"Anyway, I thought about it the last few weeks and the only thing I remember you saying about a white room was when you would take your medicine at night. Your description back then was the same as what Ryuko told me. Really bright, white, no other doors or windows."

Medicine? Satsuki sat back, trying to remember, "What kind of medicine? The kind I take now?"

Nonon shook her head, "No, I think it was a shot or something. Like some steroid shit, you were really bad for a while back then. You were all smiles when I first met you, and one day, boom, your eyes looked like you had lived a hundred years."

Ryuko gasped, "She does get that look sometimes when we're messing around!"

Satsuki smacked Ryuko's shoulder, hard, "Don't go saying that to people!"

"What! She's your friend, and we're trying to help you! Every detail counts!"

Rolling her eyes, Satsuki said, "You're not a doctor."

"Neither are you."

The two glared at each other until Nonon awkwardly cleared her throat. Satsuki growled and crossed her arms again, "Well, whatever. I don't really remember getting shots when I was little, so we'll have to come back to that."

Nonon looked crestfallen, "Is there anything else? I'm sure if we sat here a while it would come back to you. You can't just give up."

"I'm not giving up, I just have to put it on the backburner for a while, so to speak." She looked at Ryuko, "Any ideas?"

Ryuko crossed her arms, humming, "I've got some theories but they might take a while." Satsuki nodded, "We've got time."

After almost an hour and a half of theory and speculation, they all decided that the best and most plausible concept was Nonon's: The shots were either a hallucinogen or sedative, depending on which, the situation was still awful, and the long term effects of them were starting to effect Satsuki.

"You need to go back to the doctor and ask about this stuff, okay?"

Satsuki nodded, mostly silent during their debate. She had known Nonon to be insightful and logical in many different situations, so her idea couldn't be too far off from the truth. Still, the idea that such a thing was occurring was still disturbing.

After paying and leaving a generous tip for the waitress (for putting up with them for so long) Nonon left them to their own devices, saying she had a private lesson to attend.

"Those fucking brats better've practiced their shit cause I am in no mood to hear their excuses today!"

Walking towards the street to Satsuki's apartment, Ryuko grabbed her hand, tangling their fingers, "I want you to know I am sorry for telling her without your permission," she sighed, frustrated, "I just. I was so desperate to try to help you. I thought. Agh, never mind."

Satsuki looked over to see Ryuko's eyes downcast. Bumping her shoulder with her own, Satsuki got her attention, "Hey. It's fine. I'm not angry anymore. I know you meant well."

Pursing her lips, she debated on whether or not to ask. After a few more blocks of silence, she decided that Ryuko wouldn't care either way.

"Hey, would you mind staying over? I want to take a quick nap before I start my paper." Ryuko nodded, understanding fully, "Yeah, sure. I'm probably gonna work on my own paper while you sleep, though," She looked up in thought, humming, "Maybe not, I kinda type loud."

Satsuki made a face, but didn't say anything else. She was glad that Ryuko had caught on to her pattern. As long as someone else was in the bed with her, Satsuki's nightmares were basically dormant.

Even so, when she was alone she still had them periodically. They were getting more and more grotesque, Ryuko dying slower and in more pain each time. She had almost become used to them, in a way. Waking up in a cold sweat every night was getting old.

Entering her apartment, Satsuki got in bed, not even bothering to change clothes. She had barely got any sleep the last week; her professors were practically doubling her course load with extra assignments and papers.

Ryuko got in bed next to her, booting up her laptop and plugging in the thumb drive on her key ring. Eyes closed, Satsuki suddenly understood what Ryuko meant by typing loud. It was almost as if she had been personally victimized by the creator of keyboards she was jamming the keys so hard.

Trying to relax, Satsuki turned on her side, away from Ryuko's button smashing. After a few minutes the noise stopped and she heard Ryuko close her laptop. Turning her head, Satsuki looked at Ryuko, "You're done already?"

Ryuko placed her laptop on the bedside table and took off her shoes, silent. She then turned and hugged Satsuki from behind, effectively spooning her. "Nah, I'm too loud. Plus I gonna organized my thoughts anyway. I'll wait until you're actually asleep."

Satsuki didn't say anything, used to Ryuko's odd habits. Sleep overtook her in a matter of minutes.

.

Waking up to unintelligible screaming, Satsuki groaned, she had rolled onto her stomach in her sleep. Taking a deep breath through her nose, Satsuki turned and sat up, looking for Ryuko.

"Hey Sissy!"

Looking at Nui with a blank face, Satsuki said nothing, shocked to see her.

Nui cocked her head, sweet grin turning into malice. "No need to be rude."

"What are you doing here?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryuko standing almost in between her and her sister.

Nui giggled and looked around the room, "Well, I _was_ going to discipline you for being so rude to Mother on the phone, but seeing that you're still not over some of the old issues, I guess I'll leave."

Satsuki got up and crossed the room so fast even Nui's grin faltered. Grabbing her sister by the cloth of her shirt, Satsuki looked down at her, eyes cold, "What did you say?"

Seeing Nui realize that she had said too much made Satsuki tighten her grip, teeth grinding together. "Answer. Now."

Nui swallowed harshly, "Your problem with—"

Satsuki cut her off, "Why do you know about it."

"I was listening to you in the diner. You should really be careful about where you talk about things like that, Sissy."

Narrowing her eyes, Satsuki shoved Nui towards the door.

"Out."

Nui turned to leave and spoke without facing them, "It's interesting that you haven't connected the two, yet," she turned, giving them a sickly sweet smile, "I'll give you a hint. It has to do with endorphins."

Satsuki's eyes widened, "I said, leave. Now."

Without another word she turned and walked out the door, footsteps light.

Ryuko stared, "Satsuki—"

She had never been so violated, so angry in her life. Without taking a step, Satsuki lifted her arm and punched the wall next to her out of sheer frustration. She felt the skin on her knuckles split and start to bleed, mixing with the drywall.

She hadn't realized that her ears were ringing until she tried to hear what Ryuko was saying to her. She felt arms circle her waist, and Ryuko press against her back. Satsuki moved to grab the arms on her stomach, only to find her hand was stuck inside the wall.

Using probably more force than necessary, Satsuki ripped her fist from the wall, loose pieces falling to the floor.

"Let me see."

Turning around to face Ryuko, Satsuki showed her hand. It was shaking, mostly from adrenaline, and upon further inspection, was swelling and had spilt knuckles. Still angry, Satsuki opted to stay silent, a brooding scowl on her face.

Ryuko sighed, "We're gonna have to wash this." Gently taking Satsuki's messed up hand, she led her to the kitchen sink, turning on the tap. "It's gonna sting."

Leading Satsuki's hand under the faucet, Ryuko began to clean, rubbing gentle circles around open skin and pressing harder at the drywall remains. Satsuki didn't feel a thing. Until Ryuko went and got the rubbing alcohol, that is.

"Okay, this is gonna sting for sure."

Satsuki hissed at the contact, the wet cotton burning her wounds. Once Ryuko was done she grabbed some medical tape from Satsuki's bathroom and wrapped her hand, kissing her fingers when she was done.

"She just fucking walked in. It was so weird. She tried to, like, seduce me or something? I dunno, but I told her to get out, and she just stood there, staring like a freak. I ended up getting pissed off that she was ignoring me, so I just started to scream at her."

Ryuko sighed, "This is crazy. I didn't think she knew where you lived."

Satsuki looked up, "Are you afraid?"

Ryuko laughed, "Of that pint-sized bitch? Hell, no! It just means I'm staying over here more than I have been. I don't like the idea of you being alone and her just walking in like she pays rent, you know?"

In retrospect Satsuki mused that she should've seen this coming, Ryuko becoming super protective of her now that Nui had shown up at her apartment. It warmed her heart, but at the same time now Ryuko was in just as much danger. She couldn't have that.

"I can protect myself—"

"I know that! I'm just saying, we've got a better chance at taking her out with two people instead of one!"

Satsuki huffed, yielding, "Fine, fine. Do as you please."

"I do that anyway."

Standing in silence, Satsuki saw Ryuko look at the new hole in the wall and grin, "I hope you never get that mad at me! You'd shatter my skull!"

Satsuki didn't make a sound, still angry with Nui. A part of her just wanted to get out and go somewhere, to distract herself for the time being. Ryuko kissed her, getting her attention, "Hey, let's go to the park or something. Get your mind off this for a while."

She couldn't have said it better herself. They called Nonon at Ryuko's request, and she met them at the park a few hours later. It wasn't a solution, but it was a start.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sorry this took so long to get out but I've been busy D: Anyway thanks for reading and feel free to leave your thoughts!


	5. Chapter 5

"Why did you drag me up here again?"

Ryuko grinned, leading her to the middle of the roof, "To celebrate!" Feeling a breeze, Satsuki looked away, scanning the other rooftops in the area. Graduation had come and gone, and Ryuko would be starting her last semester in a few weeks.

Hearing a noise and feeling the absence of Ryuko's hand, she turned back to see Ryuko dragging a mattress through the stair entrance. Incredulous, Satsuki just stared.

Catching her eye, Ryuko laughed, "We're not gonna fuck on it or anything!" she paused, reconsidering, wagging her eyebrows, "Unless you want to!"

Satsuki shook her head and said, "You really are an idiot, sometimes."

Ryuko shrugged, setting the mattress down and laying on it, signaling Satsuki to do the same. "Just wait, this is gonna be awesome!" Satsuki sat down next to her, giving in to Ryuko's ridiculous antics.

She felt a warm hand go up under her shirt, lingering on her lower back. Absently leaning into it, Satsuki placed her hands behind her, putting her weight on them. Ryuko's hand wandered, slow and languid.

"What am I looking for again?"

Ryuko sighed and sat up, getting behind Satsuki and putting both hands under her shirt, "You'll fucking see in a minute, shit!" Ryuko rubbed her thumbs in gentle circles on the base of Satsuki's spine, slowly moving up and passing her ribs.

Satsuki felt heat bloom under her skin, the tights knots in her muscles melting away. Ryuko continued, fingers moving to her sides, pressing and kneading. By this time, she was fully pressed to Satsuki's back. They stayed silent, Ryuko resting her chin on Satsuki's shoulder, randomly kissing her neck from time to time.

A few more minutes passed, and Satsuki felt like she was about to fall asleep she was so comfortable. Suddenly, a shot went up on the horizon and exploded. _Fireworks? In this area?_ Ryuko must've felt her stiffen, "Don't worry, they do it every weekend. Dunno why they don't get caught, but it's pretty cool."

They watched the entire show in silence, Ryuko continuing her massage. Satsuki let her mind blank, watching the sky and feeling Ryuko's hands rub away her stress.

"How are you so good at this?"

She felt Ryuko shrug, "I dunno. Mako taught me most of this stuff. Her dad is a doctor… he mostly does house calls, though," her hands moved to Satsuki's stomach, fingers tracing her abs lightly, "I'm not really doing anything specific, I just like touching you, honestly."

Satsuki turned to see Ryuko's face on her shoulder, looking to the horizon, "Most of the time you get real fidgety, though, so I can't do it for long."

Satsuki hummed and leaned into her, "It gets uncomfortable after a while."

After a few minutes, she felt the air around them shift, suddenly serious. Ryuko spoke; her voice soft, "You leave tomorrow, right?"

"Yes," Satsuki felt Ryuko's work start to reverse itself.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I see her."

Ryuko tightened her grip, eyes glinting the way they did when Satsuki told her about her first nightmare all those months ago, "I saw Nonon yesterday. We talked about you."

"And?"

Ryuko's hands stilled, "We came up with something."

Satsuki frowned.

"We think that, maybe, it was your Mom that was the one—" Satsuki didn't let her finish, turning to look her in the eye, suddenly annoyed, she said, "You think that wasn't my first thought?"

She could suddenly hear blood roaring through her ears, "She's very vindictive, you know. This twisted shit is right up her alley," Ryuko stayed silent, head slightly bowed; it made Satsuki angry.

She grabbed Ryuko's jaw, lifting her head and staring straight through her, "Do I look like a fool?" In hindsight, it was the absolute wrong way to go about things, but it was all she knew, her older personality back from the dead. Looking down on people was what she did best, according to the ghosts of her past.

Ryuko just stared back, unaffected by her sudden shift in behavior. Her eyes seemed sad and knowing, Satsuki tightened her grip.

"I can handle you telling her about the room behind my back, that's fine. It's not explicit," she moved away from Ryuko, releasing her face, "But you two theorizing about what you think has happened to me like it's some kind of game is just—" She set her jaw. She needed to stop.

Ryuko got in her face, "It's just what?" she grabbed Satsuki's shoulder, leaning forward, "Okay, so we threw some ideas around, so what? We did it because we actually fucking care about you," her grip tightened, "It was our first thought, too, you know, but ignoring it and just living like it never happened—"

Satsuki shoved her off, standing, "Wouldn't you do the same? You can't blame me for wanting to act like it didn't happen!" she put her hands to her head, world suddenly spinning, "I don't even remember it happening! That's the worst part; living in a constant state of déjà vu!"

Ryuko stood up, keeping her distance, visibly fuming.

Satsuki couldn't keep it in anymore, "These headaches are getting old. These nightmares are getting old. This whole situation is _fucking old!"_ She turned away, eyes constantly moving, as if the answer was physically in front of her. How was she supposed to act? What was she supposed to say? She suddenly understood why people leapt off of buildings. This was too much.

Sitting down, she put her hands in her hair, rubbing her throbbing head. She had to think of a plan. Running away was not an option; running was weak.

Ryuko stayed silent behind her. Breathing deeply, Satsuki tried to calm down. It had been a long time since she'd had an outburst like this. "I'm just frustrated." Ryuko sat next to her, hand on her shoulder, nuzzling the side of her face.

Satsuki locked eyes with her, turning her head. Ryuko said nothing, eyes speaking for her. She was angry, and rightfully so. Satsuki didn't look away, "I yelled at you."

Ryuko didn't speak.

Satsuki stared, her proximity was calm and reassuring, but her eyes had turned dark and seething. "You're still angry."

Ryuko looked away, "Not at you."

_Oh._

After a few minutes, Satsuki sighed, "I just want some kind of normality—"

Ryuko shoved her, lightly, "Come on, you're normal. You're better than normal, actually."

Satsuki gave a noncommittal shrug.

Ryuko put her arms on either side of Satsuki's waist, bumping noses with her gently, "You are," she punctuated her claim with a kiss, not waiting for Satsuki to reciprocate, "Do you want to talk about something else?"

Satsuki bumped their foreheads, "Like what?"

Ryuko kissed her again, lingering, "I dunno. My lease is up in a few months."

After a few moments, Satsuki blinked, "You want to move in together?"

Ryuko flushed to the tips of her ears, "I mean. I'm always over there anyway. And like, we can split the cost of rent and everything. I have a really good toaster—"

Satsuki laughed, thoroughly entertained, "I was actually thinking of moving out when my lease was up, too. Maybe we can find a two-bedroom somewhere between—" She cut off at the sight of Ryuko shaking her head, "What?"

Ryuko wouldn't meet her eyes, "I want a one-bedroom."

Satsuki scoffed, "Put together, we have too many things. A one-bedroom would be too cramped."

Ryuko put her face in Satsuki's neck, ears still red, "I want to share a room with you."

"You would share a room with me, just all of our extra things would be in the other room."

"That costs more money! I'll get rid of stuff!"

Satsuki sighed, "Okay. When is your least actually up? Mine is in almost four months. That gives us a bit of time to decide on everything, right?"

Ryuko brought her head up, "Maybe we're going too fast. When do people usually move in together?"

Satsuki pursed her lips. Perhaps they were moving too fast. Shaking her head, she said, "I think we're fine, like you said, you're basically at my apartment more than half the time, anyway."

Ryuko hummed and leaned back, pulling her knees to her chest, facing the edge of the roof, "I haven't had a roommate since Mako back in high school."

Satsuki stood, stretching, "You must miss her, since you spend almost all of your time with me nowadays."

Ryuko did the same, walking to the stairway entrance, "Yeah, I do. She dropped by the other day, though! We just talked the whole time, nothing fancy. Ira's doing well, he actually _requested_ that you two have dinner sometime, to catch up."

Satsuki hummed, "That sounds nice, maybe I can get Nonon to contact Inumuta and we can all go out." Ryuko grinned, opening the door.

Satsuki stopped, "What about the mattress?"

"Oh," Ryuko eyed it warily, "Well, I guess we can just leave it up here."

"What if it rains?"

"Eh, doesn't matter. I'm pretty sure it's got bedbugs anyway."

Satsuki's eyes widened considerably, "You can't be serious."

Ryuko shifted her eyes from the mattress to Satsuki, face contorting. After a beat of staring, Ryuko snorted, doubling over and grabbing her stomach, "Oh, man! You should've seen your fucking—" looking up at Satsuki she cracked up again, "Your fucking face! Oh my God!"

Satsuki shoved her against the door, trying not to grin, "That wasn't funny!"

Ryuko just laughed harder, following her down the stairs, "Come on! Yes, it was!" Satsuki turned to glare at her, but was instead met with Ryuko's mouth on her own, firm and pressing. She had never been on the lower angle of a kiss; Ryuko's hands moved to cup her face; it was different, good.

After they both had their fill, Satsuki broke away and grabbed Ryuko's hand, threading their fingers on the way down the stairs.

"Is that your version of an apology?"

She didn't see Ryuko's dazed look behind her, "Yeah, I guess. Mako told me to do it when you were miffed at me. Whatever the hell that means."

Satsuki mused that Mako was sneakier than she her gave credit for. "Okay, but seriously, what are we doing about the mattress." She turned back to look at Ryuko as they stepped into the top floor of the bookstore, "Are you really going to leave it up there?"

"Huh? Yeah, why not?"

Satsuki narrowed her eyes, "Whose mattress is it? Do you hate them or something?"

Ryuko shrugged, "I dunno, found it up the street the other day."

"Ryuko."

"What! Who leaves out a perfectly good mattress?"

Satsuki crossed her arms, doubtful.

"I put the stained side down when we sat on it! We're good!"

She shoved her again, harder this time, "Ryuko! Seriously?"

Ryuko started laughing again, "Okay, okay. I'm kidding. It's dad's old one, he told me to trash it. We bought a new one last week. We can leave it up there, it's fine."

Satsuki sighed, "Why do I even deal with you?"

"Shut up, you know it was fucking funny!"

Satsuki slanted her eyes at Ryuko, "Really?"

Ryuko stuck her tongue out while dodging another shove. Suddenly, Satsuki supposed that normality wasn't entirely out of reach.

* * *

"You seem really anxious."

Satsuki put the last of her things into her suitcase on the bed, looking up at Ryuko, who was biting her nails again. Ryuko didn't look back, moving her pointer finger out from between her teeth, "I'm just worried about you, that's all."

"I'll be fine. It's only two weeks," Satsuki zipped up the suitcase and brought it to the floor, "Which is shorter than usual. I think she's angry with me for going to grad school."

Ryuko spat out the nail she had just bitten off, "Well, just be extra cautious, okay?"

Satsuki rolled her eyes, "I think I know how to handle my own mother, Ryuko."

Ryuko grunted, teeth moving to the next finger out of habit. Satsuki sat down next to her on the bed, grabbing the hand that was currently being chewed to bits and putting it in her lap, tracing patterns on her palm to try and calm her down.

Ryuko looked at her, then. Satsuki wasn't sure how long they sat there and stared at each other, but after a while she said, "I have to get going. The car will be here any minute."

Ryuko stayed silent, leaning in and bumping their foreheads together. Her eyes were scorching again, affection barely contained. Bringing their mouths together, Satsuki felt their fingers link on her lap. Ryuko's other hand came up to gently tuck some hair behind her ear, reminding her of the night she had her first nightmare.

After a few quiet moments, Ryuko pulled away slightly, face flushed. "S-Sorry."

Satsuki lingered, bumping their noses, voice barely above a whisper, "It's fine. I like it."

Hearing her phone vibrate, Satsuki said, "That would be the car."

Ryuko kissed her again, "Try to have a good time, Nonon lives close to you right?"

Satsuki stood up, "Oh, yes, she does. I expect to have dinner with her and her parents one of these nights. I'll call you if something changes."

"Okay."

Walking to the door with her suitcase, Satsuki checked her phone, reading the message that confirmed that the car that would take her home was indeed outside.

"You'll watch over the place while I'm gone, right?"

Ryuko leaned on the doorframe grinning as Satsuki stepped into the hall, "Yeah, I already set your DVR to record that marathon of Hell's Kitchen next week."

Satsuki smiled, "Good. Don't watch it without me."

"I won't."

Leaning in one last time, Satsuki decided to show a little more affection than usual, using her free hand to cup Ryuko's face gently. It seemed to have come across well enough, Ryuko practically panting into her mouth after a few kisses.

Breaking away, Satsuki took her hand off Ryuko's dazed face with a smile. "Okay. I'm off."

* * *

Setting her bag on her old bed, Satsuki looked around her room. It was about the size of the apartment she lived in now, give or take a few feet. Sighing, she went through her things, grabbing her phone, and walked to the kitchen down the stairs and across the hall.

"Good Afternoon, Lady Satsuki."

Her frown deepened, "Soroi, if I may, could you please refrain from call me that during my visit?"

Soroi bowed, tired eyes glinting with something Satsuki couldn't place, "I apologize, but it has been requested by the Lady of the house that you be addressed that way, Lady Satsuki."

Sighing, Satsuki sat at the dining table, the time for dinner had passed almost an hour ago. She had made sure to get there late enough to just say hello to her Mother, but not have an entire evening with her.

Smelling a familiar brew, Satsuki opened her eyes, finding a cup of her favorite tea sitting in front of her, almost welcoming her home. "Thank you, Soroi."

The butler bowed, making his leave out of the kitchen, probably off to bed. Taking a sip, Satsuki steeled herself. Feeling the warm liquid in her throat gave her the confidence she had when she was a Student Council President back in high school. Nothing could break her.

Hearing the heavy front door open, Satsuki took a few more sips, trying to get in as much as she could before the taste was soured by her mother's presence.

"Satsuki, _darling,_ I do apologize I couldn't make it to the graduation ceremony the other week. You know how things are, though. Duty calls, as they say."

Stepping into the kitchen with Nui at her side, Ragyo Kiryuin greeted Satsuki with a brilliant smile. Nui was grinning, too. _Disgusting_, Satsuki thought darkly, _hopefully these two weeks go by fast._

"Nui, if you could?" That was about the only thing Satsuki was grateful for, whenever Ragyo wanted to talk to her about anything she would shoo Nui out of the room, leaving them alone.

Once Nui was out of the kitchen, Ragyo sat across from Satsuki, folding her hands on top of the glass table, "So, what have I missed? Anything new?"

Satsuki made sure to keep a blank face, "Nothing since our conversation on the phone."

Ragyo's eyes glinted with mirth, "Ah, yes. Your new relationship that has you speaking to me in rude tones." She got up, taking her blazer off and placing it on the back of her chair, "I'm not sure what to think about it, just yet."

Satsuki remained stoic, "I apologize if I came off as rude, Mother. I was about to be late for a class—" Ragyo quickly sat down next to her, cutting her off, "Satsuki, now, what have I told you about things like that? I'm sure your professor will understand that you're speaking only about business with me. I am an ally to that university, if I'm not mistaken."

Swallowing, Satsuki kept quiet. Silence was a better option at the moment than voicing an opinion that was different than her mother's.

"You've become quite taken with this girl, from what Nui has told me," she put a hand to her chin in thought, though, from the way her lips turned up into a cruel smile, it was obviously for show, "I'm not sure what to think about her, yet."

Ragyo moved in front of her face, eyes gaining an animalistic quality, "You've been very disobedient, lately."

Eyes widening, Satsuki opened her mouth to say something, anything that would steer the conversation to a better path, but suddenly, she was put in a chokehold from behind, cutting off her air supply.

Ragyo grinned, "Nui, so soon?"

Satsuki's airway was suddenly open again. _What the hell?_ Looking behind her, she saw Nui trying to suppress a smile.

Her mother looked back at her expectantly, "Come, come. We have more to discuss."

* * *

Walking between Ragyo and Nui, Satsuki's mind was racing to its limits. Setting her mouth in a thin line, she made her decision. Being passive wasn't an option anymore.

Going through a few metal doors to the basement floor, Satsuki was in a part of the Manor that was sending chills up her spine. Ragyo stopped in front of a door to their left, opening it with an antique-looking key.

Satsuki's mind blanked.

This was the room; the room that had plagued her thoughts and dreams for the last half-year. Turning, she was met with a hand grabbing her by the jaw and forcing her inside.

Trying to get a hold of her surroundings, Satsuki didn't even see the fist to her face coming, knocking her out cold.

* * *

Panic.

_Was this how it always was? _

Pain.

_How long had she been here? _

Terror.

_This wasn't a dream. Not this time. _

Despair.

_Why was this so calculated? _

Misery.

_How was she to get out? How was she to survive? _

Madness.

_No more. __No more. No more._

Demise.

"_This will end. Now."_

* * *

A/N: Hello! Sorry that it's been a while, I've had a lot going on recently. Anyways, feel free to leave your thoughts! The ending bit is a stylistic preference I hope it's not too jarring from my usual style. Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
